Anyone ever used a trap like this?

[Susan + 8]

They disappeared Tan, the day after I caught their sister  She was the last queen and I suspect they went off in search of new girlfriends. There's one tom left living up the road, who I'm training to come for food every day at 7pm. A little longer and he'll trust me enough to venture into the trap I think...fingers crossed! 

[Tan]

Hi Susan hun

How did ya get on with the lads?

[dazarooney]

Some good advice in here

[StreetKatzRescue]

If only it were just climbing up a dressing gown...!!!  It's the launching  at you when you're just trying to get out of the shower (yeoow!) or the fascinated staring when you're on the throne 

Re the radio controlled trap, the radio controlled bit didn't pull the bar far enough to trigger the trap.  It was sent back to MDC who repaired it but apparently, if I remember correctly,  part of the problem is underuse so the battery, in spite of charging, never quite gets fully back up to speed.  As I have only intermittent need of this particular trap,  this may be an ongoing problem for me.  I also found it difficult to tell when charging, when fully charged and if the car charger was working at all.  All these problems may have been solved in more recent models - mine is a couple of years old now.

[Liz]

I currently have Miss Skye from Sunny Harbour she is in a guest bedroom with her own ensuite!!!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Aha! Someone else you fills their bathroom with stray cats! 

I keep telling folks you haven't lived until you've had a string of kittens climbing up your dressing gown while you're trying to clean your teeth. 

[Susan + 8]

Thanks Julie  Trapping efforts for the boys are temporarily on hold as their sister is currently lodging in my bathroom! The rescue is coming to collect her next week, but until then she's taken over my "feral room" quite comfortably and is eating me out of house and home 

I might try tying up the two traps that I have this week, and seeing if I can get the boys used to eating in the two separate traps before setting them properly again once my bathroom aka the feral room is free once more! 

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

I often find, Susan, that's there are several motives for a cat to go in a trap and sometimes it's not about the bait.  If you put two traps side by side and the brother goes in one, I have a hunch this cat might go in the other as he'll be searching for a way to get to his brother. That's exactly the way with mum and kitten groups - catch one and leave it there as bait for the rest. 

[Susan + 8]

Thanks Julie. I have tried and tried with conventional automatic traps but one of the brothers (the more poorly looking one of the two) refuses point blank to enter. I could have trapped the other boy 10 times over by now, but as mentioned I am reluctant to take him without his brother.  That's why I'm wondering if a very large manual might do the trick...

Thanks Street Katz, trapping ferals isn't something I particularly enjoy, as such, in fact it thoroughly stresses me out! It's more something I feel obliged to do once I become aware of a problem - I just can't help myself, I HAVE to help! Although, I must admit, I do get that warm fuzzy feeling when my rescue sends me photos of my rescued kitties frolicking in the countryside  I think I'll take the plunge and invest in the manual multi-trap - what problems did you have with the remote controlled one? I might also have a little look at the trap transfer baskets.... Oh, and note to self - NO SKIRTS! 

[StreetKatzRescue]

The transfer is basically the same as for an automatic trap so the perspex bit butts on to the end of a trap transfer basket or similar end opening basket.  The difficulty with the trap is its size so if you don't have a "proper" trap transfer basket and are trying e.g. to use a plastic cat carrier with a wire mesh front, the cat has got much more room to retreat so you end up kind of sprawled across the trap trying to hold the cat carrier snugly in place with one hand and coax/prod the cat to move with the other.  Moral:  never wear a short skirt 

If you are doing a lot of trapping a trap transfer basket is a good investment.  MDC do them (other companies are available) and also the same thing without the inner restraint bit. 

If you enjoy trapping and plan to do some more, it's a good idea to invest in bits of equipment as and when you can.  It's taken me many years to build up my equipment (I save £2 coins in a jar and fine myself double if I have to raid it!) and the radio trap was a gift!!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

I've never used a trap like that as our branch can't afford one.  In truth I don't really see a need either. 

In a situation like that I'd set up two or maybe three conventional traps side by side in a top to tail formation. I've found that very effective for catching mum and kitten groups.  Leave the trapped cat in the sprung trap and it will attract the others to enter the primed trap. 

[Susan + 8]

Thanks very much for your reply Street Katz, much appreciated. The cats are in my street (a city centre location) so safety is not a problem during the evenings while it's still light. I have been trapping this colony for over a year now and have so far managed to catch 4 females (3 of which were pregnant), one male stray who lives with me now and two little kittens who I tamed and who also live with me. The feral girls all live at a rescue in the countryside, far away from the busy streets and heavy traffic of my area

There are four "regular" cats left, and a couple more who turn up every few weeks. The last remaining female has practically tamed, and will allow me to pick her up. I am hoping to pick her up and put her into a carrier this weekend - fingers crossed! She won't entertain the trap, so maybe this will be a compromise for her. There is a big boy who is considering my automatic, and then there are the brothers. They were made outcasts of the colony some time ago, and live further down the street away from the others. All they have are each other and they love each other so much. Several times they have looked as though they might be about to go into my automatic (it's quite large) but then as soon as they bump into each other trying to get into the trap side by side they get so distracted by their love for each other that they will wander off down the street with their tails entwined! I was hoping that the bigger trap in the link might stop them from bumping into each other and stop them getting so distracted! To be honest I have been trying to get these two for so long now that it would be money well spent if it worked! I'm encouraged that it's worked for you...it might be next month's pay day splurge. Did you transfer the cats into individual traps/carriers after catching? I've watched videos of people doing this in America on You Tube and they make it look very easy...although I'm guessing it's trickier than it looks!

Thanks again for your advice 

[StreetKatzRescue]

Hi  Yes I've used this trap many times and it is great for a true multicat situation - ie if you have lots of cats or mum and big kittens.  MDC also have a radio controlled version of the same thing which I also have but have found problematic.  If you are considering buying this for just an occasional trap of one or two cats, it's an expensive buy and MDC have other manual traps which might be just a good for 2 close boys tempted by something tasty.  You can also improvise by using your existing automatic trap with the rod from a wire mesh cat carrier (or you can buy from MDC for a couple of pounds) and a length of string - don't know if I can describe how to do this.  Basically, you attach the rod to the string and then push in the door of the automatic as you would to prime the trap, hold open and then push the rod through from one side of the trap to the other so the door is resting on the rod and not on the automatic mechanism.  You can then pull the string - and the rod - when the cats are happily chomping on the food at the other end.  So you control the trap.  The multi-cat trap is great if you are doing a lot of trapping in multi-cat situations but it is large and heavy and very cumbersome so that has to be taken into consideration.  If you are in a safe location to trap, that's fine but if not, then a smaller trap and a bit of ingenuity is always better.   

[Susan + 8]

Hi

I have two feral brothers who I am very keen to trap together. I found this online and wondered if anyone had used one / had any success with anything similar? http://www.mdcexports.co.uk/?p=multitrap I normally use a normal automatic, but as mentioned I really don't want to have to leave one of these boys behind, even temporarily, as they are VERY close! 

Thanks for reading