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get down to the last few unaltered felines. You might also want to trap a particular catwho is pregnant, recently abandoned or sick or injured.A drop trap is the most effective way to selectively trap (see earlier in this chapter andChapter 10). In lieu of a drop trap, another way to pick a cat out of the crowd is to usethe bottle-and-string method described earlier in the “Kittens” section of this chapter (seealso Figure 9-3). Be sure, before the trapping, to practice setting the front door on thebottle, then yanking the string from a distance. It sounds easy enough, but it’s importantto get the feel of it before you go live and have a cat in the trap.Whether you use a drop trap or the bottle-and-string approach, put an extra-largeamount of bait in the trap. This will allow a number of cats to go in and eat while you’rewaiting for the one you want.• Cats who avoid the trip plateOn occasion, you may encounter a feline who won’t step on the trip plate. She maystep over it, tiptoe around or even lean and stretch her neck far enough to grab a bite ofthe bait. If you see a cat in a trap who has avoided the trip plate and is calmly eating,don’t hurry over and cause the cat to rush out in a panic, because then she may be toofrightened to ever return. Instead, walk towards the trap slowly and casually, giving herplenty of time to stop eating and exit when she becomes concerned about your approach.Sometimes on her way out, the cat will step on the trip plate.If the cat does exit, then when she’s acomfortable distance away, cover the tripplate and the rest of the trap floor with asheet of newspaper, using clothes pins toattach the paper to the sides of the trap.Now she won’t be able to see where thetrip plate is next time she goes in. Youcan also take a stick and push it throughthe sides of the trap a few inches abovethe ground and just in front of the tripplate (Figure 9-8). Now, to reach the bait,the cat will have to step over the stick andFigure 9-8onto the hidden trip plate. Cleaning traps & equipmentAt the end of each trapping project, it’s important to thoroughly clean the traps andany other equipment used, such as trap dividers or cages, in order to prevent the spread ofdisease. First, any loose materials should be scrubbed off. Then the equipment should bedipped in a bleach solution. The scrubbing should be done first in order for the bleachsolution to effectively sterilize all surfaces.A diluted solution of 1 part bleach to 32 parts water (1:32) will kill most commonfeline viruses, including feline distemper. The bleach needs to contain at least 5.25%sodium hypochlorite, which is the active ingredient. You can find the percentage of95