How to Set a Trap for a Feral Cat
A popular method of addressing the issue of feral cats has become a humane process known as trap-neuter-return. Feral cats can be found just about everywhere. These are barn cats, street cats and alley cats. Feral cats are not socialized to people, either because they have not been a pet for many years or because they were born on the street---likely the offspring of an unaltered tame cat. Trap-neuter-return involves trapping the feral cats, neutering it and returning it to its territory. There it will live out its life without reproducing.
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Instructions
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Place your traps on level ground in areas where the cats normally eat.
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Put a piece of folded newspaper in the trap. Cats are more likely to enter the traps if they don't have to walk on the wire bottom. Do not put the paper on the trip plate or it may keep the trap from closing properly when the cat enters.
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Place canned mackerel in the back of the trap, behind the trip plate.
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Open the trap's door by pulling the door upward.
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Use the small hook on the side of the trap to hold the door open. There is a cylinder on the side of the door into which the hook fits. Once the hook is inserted into this cylinder, the trip plate is also raised. When the cat steps on the trip plate, the hook will be released, the door will close and the cat will be trapped.
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Cover the trap with a blanket or sheet, with the covering folded so that the opening to the trap remains opened.
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Tips & Warnings
Set the traps just before the time when you would normally feed the cats. Dusk is usually the best time to trap feral cats.
Many groups that practice trap-neuter-return have the veterinarian notch the ear of cats when they are anesthetized for surgery. This allows easy identification of cats that have already been trapped for spay/neuter, if the same feral cat is trapped again.
Be careful about trapping when it is raining or when it is very hot or cold. Cats can easily succumb if left in traps during inclement weather.
It's important to cover the trap as soon as the cat is inside. The covering serves to calm the cat and if the trap remains uncovered, the cat is likely to thrash and attempt to escape to the point of injuring itself.
Don't leave the traps unattended, but don't stay too close or you'll frighten the cats away from the traps.
If you trap a female feral cat that is lactating, it is important that the cat be returned to the area so that her kittens aren't left unprotected and unfed. It is best if you can locate the kittens so that you can determine if they are old enough to be without their mother long enough for her to have surgery. If they are not, you will probably need to release her and try trapping her again after her kittens are weaned.
