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around and inflict a severe bite or scratch in an attempt to escape. This can result inserious injury. Err on the side of safety and go through the trapping process with everycat in the colony unless you are certain a particular feline is a recently abandoned,friendly house cat. Even then, you are taking your chances because some tame cats don’ttake well to being placed in a carrier and also will defend themselves. If you are sure thecat is friendly and placing him in a carrier is appropriate, instead of picking him up, firstput some tuna or something tasty on a paper or plastic plate in the back of the carrier andlet the cat walk in on his own. Then quickly shut and lock the door behind him.Any injury caused by a feral or stray cat should be treated inconsultation with a medical doctor. Serious bacterial infections and otherdiseases could result from a seemingly minor wound that is left untreated.2. KittensNever try to catch a feral kitten with your bare hands. Yes, their teeth and claws aresmall, but picture tiny razor blades cutting into your fingers – they can do some damage.If you’re going to try to pick them up, use gloves made of a special protective materiallike Kevlar. A safer approach would be to use one of the methods described below.• Setting the trigger lightlyThe same traps used to capture adults can be used tocatch young kittens, even five or six weeks old. Unlessthe trap is creaky and needs some oil, a kitten’s weightpressing down on the trip plate should be enough to shutthe front door if you use a technique known as “settingthe trigger lightly.” On the Neighborhood Cats traps byTomahawk, as well as most other models, the trigger ishook-shaped. The trap is set by pushing the triggerforward so it rests under a cross bar above the frontdoor. On the Tomahawk traps, there’s a small brasscylinder to mark the spot. When the cat steps on the tripplate, the trigger is pulled back, causing the front door toFigure 9-2fall down. Normally, you push the trigger forward as far as you can so the elbow of thehook rests against the cross bar or brass cylinder. If you don’t push the trigger all theway forward and instead rest the tip of the hook against the cross bar or cylinder (Figure9-2), it will take less weight pressing down on the trip plate to make the trigger pull backand the front door shut.The same principle applies to Tru-Catch traps, although the trigger mechanism isdifferent. With Tru-Catch traps, the trigger is set by resting two bars bent at right anglesagainst each other – one bar is connected to the trip plate, the other to the front door. Toset this trigger mechanism lightly, the two bars should rest against one another at theirvery tips.80