You know you're rural when.............

[txdon]

is it a picture of a Wildblue antenna running through an RV septic hookup?

I have Wildblue and it is actually a dish not an antenna, but I'll have one of whatever your drinking!

The lost cat sign really made me LOL!

Night #1, the trap is set, now we wait.......

 

[txdon]

The trap was out for about an hour and he walked in it and started munching on the cat food bait, but the door would not close on the trap. I grabbed my flashlight and threw it at the cage and the trap door shut, captured.

I took him about a half mile to the back of our woods and release him. He was a pretty good possum, he never hissed or tried to bite. We will find out in a couple of days if he finds his way back.

 

[tallyho8]

A half mile? I've taken them 5 miles away and dumped them and seen them back the next day. I mark them with a can of spray paint so I know it's the same one.

 

[jinman]

The trap was out for about an hour and he walked in it and started munching on the cat food bait, but the door would not close on the trap. I grabbed my flashlight and threw it at the cage and the trap door shut, captured.

Don, you're the winner of this month's Pogo Award . That means your pool has been renamed the Okefenokee Swamp.

 

[Bird]

The trap was out for about an hour and he walked in it and started munching on the cat food bait, but the door would not close on the trap. I grabbed my flashlight and threw it at the cage and the trap door shut, captured.

I took him about a half mile to the back of our woods and release him. He was a pretty good possum, he never hissed or tried to bite. We will find out in a couple of days if he finds his way back.

After seeing you throwing things, he was probably afraid to hiss or try to bite. That may have been the first time ever for a trap to be tripped by a thrown flashlight.

 

[SnowRidge]

Somewhere on the Internet, I read that you should put newspaper in the bottom of the Havahart trap to catch feral cats because they will not want to walk on the wire bottom of the trap. Since I was setting the trap where I knew that wind would make newspaper inappropriate, I cut a piece of cardboard to fit the bottom of the trap. The cat I was after was caught just before dark one evening, so we waited until the next morning to call animal control to come get it. And the next morning, it appeared that the cat had a severe case of diarrhea during the night.

Must be another Internet "story," Bird. I have trapped several feral cats using an imported knockoff of the Havahart. They all walked on the wire just fine. Free food is free food.

I never leave the trap out unattended. I don't want to trap a domestic kitty, and I sure don't want to trap a skunk.

 

[Bird]

Must be another Internet "story," Bird. I have trapped several feral cats using an imported knockoff of the Havahart. They all walked on the wire just fine. Free food is free food.

I never leave the trap out unattended. I don't want to trap a domestic kitty, and I sure don't want to trap a skunk.

You're probably right. The trap was left out several days and nights with cat food in it, and caught nothing. Then I put a sardine in it for bait, no newspaper or cardboard, and caught one cat, but not the particular one I wanted to catch. So we left it baited with sardines several more days with not luck. Then I put the cardboard in the bottom and baited it with a little canned tuna and promptly caught the one I was after. Did the cardboard help? I don't know, but I do know it sure didn't hurt.

Incidentally, here is the Internet story I was talking about; third paragraph under "Setting the Trap".

 

[chh]

I would recommend taking him several miles away at least. On my trap you have to be careful not to set the latch too deep on the hook or it will not trip very easily. I don't remember what brand it is, but it has caught coons. possums, cats and even armadillo's over the years.

 

[SnowRidge]

You're probably right. The trap was left out several days and nights with cat food in it, and caught nothing. Then I put a sardine in it for bait, no newspaper or cardboard, and caught one cat, but not the particular one I wanted to catch. So we left it baited with sardines several more days with not luck. Then I put the cardboard in the bottom and baited it with a little canned tuna and promptly caught the one I was after. Did the cardboard help? I don't know, but I do know it sure didn't hurt.

Incidentally, here is the Internet story I was talking about; third paragraph under "Setting the Trap".

Wow! Who knew trapping cats was that complicated? Kind of reminds of the web site that gives explicit instructions on how to clean and prepare purple martin houses for your "tenants." It's a wonder the birds survived before humans, their needs are so particular.

None of the feral cats I have trapped have soiled the trap or my truck, not counting the one that battered the inside of the trap trying to get out to the point he was bleeding. He even broke a couple of the wire welds.

Adult cats have a survival reflex when stressed. They don't urinate or defecate, presumably so the scent won't give away their location. At some point, they will have to go, of course, but it usually it is many hours later. I don't think kittens have the same response or ability.

I always set the trap out near the cat food bowl they have been raiding, until the target cat(s) get used to it and are nearby. I then bait it by placing the bowl with the cat food in it inside, set the trap, and watch from inside the house. They are usually wary about entering the trap, but none have, er, pussyfooted around once inside. They get right to business chowing down -- for a couple of seconds, anyway.

 

[Bird]

Wow! Who knew trapping cats was that complicated?

Just what I thought when I read that. So I didn't follow much of their instructions. There's never been any food out at our place for the cat. Our dog's food and water is inside. So I couldn't set a trap where there had been food. The cat had simply gotten into a habit of coming over the fence behind my garden tool storage building and sleeping in my chair in the breezeway, so I set the trap behind that storage building.