Need help caging feral cats

Ok I have a feral cat problem. They are climbing my 6 foot privacy fence and using my flower beds as a litter box, along with trying to eat a resident baby rabbit. Cage traps are my only option and only inside the fence.

Need help with bait and anything else you may think will help. Cat food isnt working. So far have only caught the rabbit which saved him from the cat that was at the cage when i checked it. Cage has been out since last fall unbaited so they should be used to it by now.

Best bait is cheap dollar store canned cat food (fish or chicken) or canned jack mackerel. I have found that larger traps work much better. I know they will go in a 6x6 but a 10x12 will up your chances greatly. Depending on where you live a good pellet rifle will solve the problem permanently. I hate feral cats.

Unfortunately cages are the only option as I live in town.

I have been catching them in my coon sets. Dry cat food with liquid smoke and cherry flavor.

Derek

Definitely use the 10-11x12x30-36 size traps and be sure to blend in the bottom with the surrounding ground cover so that the wire and pan are not noticeable. Make it look and feel as natural as possible.

Fish flavored wet cat food is the bait of choice but you can also use a litter box set. Dig up some turds from the flower bed and put them in the back of the cage. If the cats are being well fed this might be the set that works best.

Use as many traps as you can. Cats learn about traps quickly.

Once you catch a cat inside a cage trap, all you'll need to catch another one is that trap reset !

X2

Sounds like this kitty might have been caught before.
OK...from my experiences. ...first clean your cage....remove your baits/ lures whatever it.....spray it down (car wash?). Let it dry..then re- set in a new location. Try using a good bobcat lure on some feathers, yarn pieces cut up and suspended, even imitation fur cut up into strips and hung in the back if the cage. Be sure to stabilize cage solidly. Good luck.

Thanks guys will try it all. Sure wish it was legal to use more effective traps.

Don't feel handicapped with cage traps. There have been probably millions of cats caught with them. I've cleaned out many colonies with nothing but cages.

Are you sure these are actually "feral" cats and not just strays or pets let out to roam? There's a big difference.

Any cat not kept contained inside a persons house at all times is classified as feral to me. I dont care if its someones pet or not, they are going to leave as fast as I can catch them.

That's fine with me but they are two different animals and behave as such.

I personally think cats are a blight on the countryside but keep in mind the differences in behavior can result in some trapping techniques working better than others. There is also the legal issue in taking someone elses property. Cat people can be crazy.

Be careful and good luck.

#11, just saying.

Check and take them to the local animal control. If they belong to some one and you do something with it, it can get very expensive.

Definitely gonna keep it legal. As much as I hate cats they arent worth any fines or other legal action. Its just irritating that there isnt an animal control around that enforces the leash law on cats.

Did a cat job for a local girl some years back, who wanted her 4 semi-feral cats caught so that she could bring them home. They were living outside at another location, while she was feeding them in a travel trailer. My approach was a little different. I used 9x11 double door cage traps with wire triggers, which turned out to be plenty big enough and worked just fine, no misses. Have also caught a number of accidental cats in 9x11, no problem, anywhere from 18 to 36 inches long.

We picked up all the food and put it in the trailer in the living room. I blocked off the hallway and set the 9x11's in the "trail." Got all four of hers as well as two of the neighbors two cats without issue. If you know where the cats are traveling, just put a double door trap in a pathway. I'm a huge fan of trail sets, dig outs under fences etc., traps used with no bait in them, no distractions, no pans to step over, no bait to hook, just passin' through.

Good info Jim...almost like using body gripping traps in trails.

Thanks. I first used 210's and then 220's when they came out for coon in trails beginning in the 70's. Very enjoyable. The locals in Virginia got on to it and taught me and I taught Thorpe. Thorpe said it was baloney, "coon will go around them." I told him I didn't think they would make it up. They were catching fox in hedge rows too. Using 220's in trails for otter, coon, fox is one neat way to trap. After I popped a few jumbos Thorpe began to come around. Showed a friend in Vt. how to 220 trails. We ran a line together. I set trails, he set pockets. First two days most all coon were in pockets, like 10 pockets, 1 in a trail. Next day it was 6 in trails, 1 in pockets, so it made a believer of him.

I know many trappers prefer 280's or 220's for otters to prevent farback catches. This is because the otter will always hit the largest opening avoiding the wires. The larger the trap, in theory, allows a less chance of a full body catch. Some use 330's and neck down the opening with sticks on either side of the trigger that way they have larger trap to set when a larger animal needs to be caught and allows for a more optimum trigger performance. Others use 4-way triggers that all the animal has to bump the trigger as he goes through and does not neck down the trap or increase the covered area with wire that could cause a go around. Also, even more trappers preset the dog or trigger(land sets) so that it moves ever so lightly about 1 inch making the animal feel it is like a blade of grass before firing. Many trappers even make the trigger into a circle smaller than the expected animal, giving him the illusion he will just pass through. The later works but would have better success with a 4 way trigger with that design due to the smaller animals, (on this post would be kittens), slinking trough firing the trap. Cats respond much as otters do to obstacles whether it is a wire trigger or a raised pan.

I have watched cats work a cage for many hours. The large more tame grown ones don,t pay much attention to trigger wires. The wary old cats and the kittens will brush against the wires or slink through them. Thus, the trigger and how it works, in relation to the size of the trap, as well as how it is baited or not baited is critical when caging cats. Especially young kittens.

Something else to consider. Another way to catch a cat requires no trigger use in the conventional sense but uses the trigger in another manner entirely for the leery cat in a way they will probably not suspect. A change up method shows promise in using cat rub lure, made for bobcats I believe, on a stick with cages. In this method there is no pan to step on and no trigger wires to avoid as the cat goes straight to the lured stick and pushes on it like they do when they rub up against furniture etc. to intentionally leave their own scent, marking. Instead of avoidance, the lure says, "push here."

A few years back at an NTA convention one trapper said he had a very smart cat that used to regularly sleep in a pan cage trap, waiting to be fed, step over the pan, eat the bait, then go back to sleep in entrance to the cage waiting for the next meal. It went on for quite some time. Finally, he took an 8x10 inch swing panel cage trap, wired the trigger back out of the way and then propped a stick up under the trigger bar with cat rub on it. Came back to the show the next day, said he had him first night. Have always thought the same thing could be repeated or also duplicated with a 9x11 swing bar cage by removing the trigger wires and using electric ties to fasten a small diameter 8 inch long stick to the vertical swing bar. Cats push pretty hard when they are trying to leave their scent. Should do the same with either trap and fire the trigger. I know there are a couple of cat gland lures made for cats to rub. Bob Jameson would know more about the lure end of it. For cats that have "seen it all" this just might throw some of them a curve.

Just bait the cage or set the cage on a trail or bait set, as you normally would, and just use a rub lure on the hanging wires themselves. Got video of catching a variety that way.

Done it on small as well as large traps and animals on numerous occasions showing in you tube videos. Doesn,t really matter the size of the trap if the trap is big enough, it is the type of trigger that makes the difference. How the lure is placed in relation to the trigger whether it be a pan or wire trigger it doesn,t seem to matter. Just use a trap that you have or buy one that has multiple options for baiting and choosing set locations that is large enough for targeting a variety of animals.