Tuna > Trap

I was contacted recently by a local ranch about trapping a cat. The cat had been abandoned at the ranch in December, and no one knew if he or she had been fixed yet. Since the cat looked like a cat the ranch used to have named Barney, the cat was named Barney Jr. (although the gender is still not known). Since December, Barney Jr. has lived under the barn, coming out only when people are not around to eat the food that is left out for the Blossom and Buttercup, the two barn cats. The ranch animal manager asked that I trap Barney Jr. so that he/she could be spayed or neutered. Although the ranch does not usually keep cats that are abandoned there, Barney Jr. has gotten along very well with Blossom and Buttercup, so after surgery, he/she will be released back.

This morning I set the trap at the usual feeding spot at 8am. I was greeted the moment I walked into the barn by Buttercup. She decided that she absolutely had to have some of the delicious tuna that I was using as bait, so as soon as I set the trap, she went in. I figured this was good, she would learn her lesson and stay out. After all, cats are never trapped twice. Shortly after, Buttercup's sister Blossom showed up and also wanted some of the tempting tuna. She also immediately got trapped, but she didn't even mind when the trap closed on her. She just kept eating, and in the interest of the tuna, I had to pull her out. I reset the trap, and continued getting it ready. Of course, Blossom quickly went back and got trapped again! This time she acted a little scared, so I thought she had learned her lesson. Then I went home and continued with my day.

In the afternoon, I got a call from the ranch's animal manager. Apparently, Blossom and Buttercup had both been trapped several more times throughout the day, and had eaten all of the tuna! We decided to try trapping again on Wednesday, but this time we are going to use regular canned food. Hopefully, it will be less tempting than the tuna. If not, Blossom and Buttercup are going to spend the day hunting mice in the chicken shed.

I took some pictures of the trap, just so I could explain how to trap a cat well. Traps have a metal rectangle that stands up when the trap is set, and acts like a trigger. When the cat steps on it to get to the food behind it, then the door snaps shut. Many cats see the trigger and step around it, so they get the food but the trapper does not get them. In order to hide the trigger, a piece of newspaper or a towel is put inside the trap, covering the trigger. The food is placed at the very end of the trap, past the trigger, so the cat has to go all the way inside the trap to get food. A trail of food is sometimes placed in the front of the trap, to lure the cat inside. A towel is placed over the trap, to make it look like a safe place to be, and to calm the cat once he or she is trapped. Those are the basics for cat trapping.