Friday, November 10, 2006
My First Trapping
The weather couldn't be more perfect for a night of feral cat trapping. Myself and two other girls met up and prepared for the hunt. It's all about tuna and sardines. Get the smell out there, and the little beauties will come running. We started down the block, getting a few suspicious eyes from the locals. Just a bit unusual for three women walking down the street with big wire traps. So we put down one in a spot known to have cats in the backyard. We didn't see any as of yet. We crossed over and setup another one in a driveway. At that time we were approached by a neighbor who asked us about what happens to the cats after we trap. We explained the TNR (trap-neuter-return) program and how we've already done 6 cats in the area. The neighbor lady explained that she was in the pre-school down the street and two kittens came in just that day. The doors were open because the school was in heat mode, not A/C for the 60 degree November weather. She took us back to the dumpster area where they mostly hide out. We saw two of them right away. Now the hunt really began. A drop trap was setup and within 10 minutes we caught one. Then I put a second trap behind the dumpster. Went inside, chatted with our new friend and then went back to check. The young kitten was in, but the door didn't drop. Our skilled and experienced trapper jumped in and saved the night. We calmed the cats down, got them ready to go and packed up all our stuff. I called in the transport (car service) requesting van type vehicle. We ended up with a sweet ride; these kitties never had it so good. We dropped them off at the "hotel" for recovery, inspection and get ready for the big surgery. Both of them warmed up right away to us and of course loving the baby food we gave them. The other resident cats checked them out and agreed to let them stay. It was a unanimous vote by all.