Hi Everyone,
I have lots of feral cat trapping experience, but not trapping kittens, and need some advice.
The Little Mom Feral, who I call Smudge, is very friendly with me. I am able to pet her, she has even brought a few of her kittens in the house through the cat door, but if I try to get to the door to close it...the kittens run out, not Mom, she is really comfortable in here. I think she "gets" that this is where her kids will get the care they need.
Once I get the kittens, I know getting Mom back with them won't be a problem, so my problem is just getting all of the kittens, and not leaving one behind.
There are four kittens. The problem is they aren't all in the same place at the same time. I think that is because she doesn't have complete control anymore. The kittens are active enough to want to stop and play with a leaf or a bug when she is trying to get them all to the feeding station at the same time. (Just like all mothers and kids!!!!)
I have a drop trap set up and Mom takes the kittens in it to eat, but only one or two at a time. It concerns me to that Mom goes in with the kittens, cause I don't want or need to trap her. It would only scare her needlessly.
It is at the night feeding that she has them all in my front yard (which is fairly large, lots of bushes and places to hide).
She brings them in the yard around 8:00 p.m, just before it gets dark. I am worried if I can only get two that she will be frantic all night looking for them.
I was able to pick one of the kittens up tonight, but put it back with the other one, worrying it wouldn't be good to have just the one.
Yikkes! I am going nuts about this! Since the kittens are all black, once it gets dark, they are impossible to see.
The kittens, by my calculations are right at six weeks, so I want to get them before Mom leaves them. I am in a wild area with birds of prey flying overhead, and they have gotten kittens in the past. The area surrounding me, thank heaven, is covered in brush, so if the kittens stay in the brush they are pretty safe, but I think I am in a real time crunch here.
How would you experts out there go about this???
I have lots of feral cat trapping experience, but not trapping kittens, and need some advice.
The Little Mom Feral, who I call Smudge, is very friendly with me. I am able to pet her, she has even brought a few of her kittens in the house through the cat door, but if I try to get to the door to close it...the kittens run out, not Mom, she is really comfortable in here. I think she "gets" that this is where her kids will get the care they need.
Once I get the kittens, I know getting Mom back with them won't be a problem, so my problem is just getting all of the kittens, and not leaving one behind.
There are four kittens. The problem is they aren't all in the same place at the same time. I think that is because she doesn't have complete control anymore. The kittens are active enough to want to stop and play with a leaf or a bug when she is trying to get them all to the feeding station at the same time. (Just like all mothers and kids!!!!)
I have a drop trap set up and Mom takes the kittens in it to eat, but only one or two at a time. It concerns me to that Mom goes in with the kittens, cause I don't want or need to trap her. It would only scare her needlessly.
It is at the night feeding that she has them all in my front yard (which is fairly large, lots of bushes and places to hide).
She brings them in the yard around 8:00 p.m, just before it gets dark. I am worried if I can only get two that she will be frantic all night looking for them.
I was able to pick one of the kittens up tonight, but put it back with the other one, worrying it wouldn't be good to have just the one.
Yikkes! I am going nuts about this! Since the kittens are all black, once it gets dark, they are impossible to see.
The kittens, by my calculations are right at six weeks, so I want to get them before Mom leaves them. I am in a wild area with birds of prey flying overhead, and they have gotten kittens in the past. The area surrounding me, thank heaven, is covered in brush, so if the kittens stay in the brush they are pretty safe, but I think I am in a real time crunch here.
How would you experts out there go about this???