download/print - Neighborhood Cats

feet long, and lean it up against a wall at an angle. Place a set trap behind it without anybait (Figure 9-6). Towards the back of the trap, drape a sheet over the board so it visiblyblocks any open space above and to the side of the trap. Leave the rear door uncovered(Figure 9-7).Figure 9-6 Figure 9-7Once everything is ready, lure the cat into the room and shut the door, or gently shoohim out from his hiding spot if he’s already inside. Once he enters the room for the firsttime or is flushed out from his spot, he’ll look for somewhere to hide. The only placehe’ll see is behind the board and he’ll naturally go running behind it. The sheet willmake it appear that he’ll be blocked in if he goes over or around the trap, so in mostcases, he’ll go right in and step on the trip plate. He won’t realize, in the heat of themoment, that he could easily push the sheet aside.If the cat doesn’t go all the way into the trap or stops just in front of it, walk slowlytowards him, causing him to run away from you and into the trap. You could also slowlymove a long object, like a broom stick, towards him. Be careful not to get too close andwithin his striking range. If he still doesn’t go into the trap, exit the room, give the cattime to calm down, then come and try again to get him to run behind the board.Another approach, if there is a closet in the room, is to set a trap inside it. Leave thecloset door open a crack - just enough so the cat can run in. Make the interior of thecloset dark and the rest of the room as brightly lit as possible. Block or remove any otherhiding places. When the cat enters the room or is shooed out from behind wherever inthe room he’s hiding, his natural tendency will be to run from the bright open space to thedark enclosed one and, hopefully, into the trap. This method is less reliable than the “trapbehind the board” technique because there is more of a chance the cat will enter the closetbut not the trap.If all else fails, bait the trap, withdraw and wait it out.• Picking one out from the crowdA cat may be hard to catch because there are lots of other cats around who you’re notafter. This situation is typical when a colony is trapped and neutered gradually and you94