Feral Kitten #1 - The Successful Trap!

After those multiple failures at trapping this kitten, I had to re-think my strategy as to how I might trap it. I knew I wanted to trap it, but had no idea which direction to take.

In any case, I knew I wanted to make the kitten as comfortable as possible while it was outside, so one night, I left my garage door cracked. I placed a small basket with towels inside it on the floor of the garage, and put some cat food next to the basket.

The next morning, I noticed that the cat food was gone, but also that there was a bit of cat hair and dirt from "someone" who had been in that basket! I suspected I knew who it was, and this gave me an idea.

Now, one thing I have to say before I continue, is that this kitten was not as skittish as some feral cats are, once they are fully grown. I think a fully-grown feral cat might not have gone into that garage so easily, or if it heard someone approaching, it might have run out of the garage. So the next night I saw the kitten go into the garage, and when she had been there awhile, I snuck outside and quietly closed the garage door that I had left slightly open.

Voila! I had her! Well, I had her in the garage. Now, what do I do to get her in my possession? I knew I had to leave the overhead door shut, so I focused on the other door.

Here's the trap I set: I found the kitten tucked in a corner of the garage opposite the opening of the door. I went out and purchased some plastic bird-netting that gardeners use to protect their tomatoes, and I came home and taped it all around that door. Then, I created a barrier leading from the wall where the kitten was to the wall where the door was. Since the light came through the netting, the kitten would try to escape in the direction of the light.  Because of the barrier, it couldn't go anywhere else in the garage to hide. I got a broom handle and gently poked it down in the corner where the kitten was perched.

After a few attempts, the kitten charged out from the corner and toward the light, right into the netting. It immediately got entangled in the netting, and as it struggled to free itself, I released the netting from around the door and enclosed the kitten inside it, held it close to my body and rushed it into a bathroom in my house that I had prepared for its arrival. I had a kitten litter box with litter, food and water, and a super-cozy place to sleep!

By the time I had the kitten next to my body, moving toward my house, it knew it had been caught and was totally submissive. I held firmly, just in case it would try to escape. Inside the bathroom, I easily removed the netting from it and left it alone for awhile to get used to its new surroundings. From that point on, it was easily tamed.

We have had Morgan for over 2 years, now.