Feeding and Trapping a Feral Colony

[ashade1]

Hello! It is me here from Wild and Wonderful Animal Rescue! I usually post in the pregnant cats and kitten care section, I occasionally post in here though!

Most of my experience with feral cats is working with colonies who already have an established caretaker.

My question here is because I want to start working with a colony that does not already have one.

I was contacted about working with a colony that is living on a hillside in the woods behind a bar. The lady said that I should be able to feed them at the edge of the woods without any problems from anyone... she said she had used to feed them there a while ago. I went out today to look around- not surprisingly I didn't see any cats, but I figure since they are not getting regularly fed there that they won't normally hang around that area and once I start leaving food there that I will start to see them. I talked to the lady who contacted me about them she said she usually sees them late at night- I work midnight so I think I might just go out before I come in... around 10 and start feeding them.

I have never started feeding cats who never had a caretaker, so do you think once I start setting food out I should see them more and more? How soon do you think I can start trapping to do TNR?

Also since this is my first time sort of establishing a feed station for a colony what all do I need to have there? Water bowls, food bowls and some sort of shelter? Is that all?

Thanks!

 

[Norachan]

Hi @ashade1

I think the best thing to do, before you start feeding, is to find out who owns the hillside and ask them how they feel you taking care of the cats.

If the woods belong to your city you need to check that it's not an offence to feed ferals. Some cities allow feral caretakers, which means you'd be able to get the cats chipped and registered as your colony and you'd have some rights to protect you should problems arise in the future.

If the woods are privately owned you'll need permission from the land owner.

Make sure you have this before you start feeding. If the cats are surviving there without a caretaker there is no need to start something you might not be able to continue. Once you get involved it will be heartbreaking for you and very bad news for the cats if you are forced to stop. 

Once you have permission you need to find out how many cats and what other kinds of wildlife live in the woods. Do you have access to a trail camera? These are so useful for feral caretakers. You could set up a feeding station with the camera focused on the food and make a note of how many cats show up.

Please be aware that you'll probably get other animals too. If you see a lot of raccoons on the camera and only one or two cats I wouldn't bother feeding them. If they are surviving in the woods by hunting they're fine as they are. Attracting a lot of wildlife to one area by leaving out food will upset the balance and may lead to foxes, raccoons and other animals from outside the area moving into the cats territory.

Here are a few things you might find interesting to read.

[thread="292593"]Raccoon Problems​[/thread]  

 [article="32879"]9 Practical Ways For You To Help Feral Cats​[/article]  

 [thread="272648"]Any New Suggestions On Keeping Starlings From Devouring Feral Kitty Food​[/thread]  

Please let us know how it goes. If there are cats in the area and you get permission to take care of them we can give you advice about trapping an so on.

 

[ashade1]

Oh ok! I never even thought to do that! Duh! Like I said most of the other colonies I have worked with before already had caretakers and we were on their property. How would I go about finding out who owns it? There aren't any "POSTED: PRIVATE PROPERTY" signs on the trees like I normally see around here...

 

[Norachan]

Ask at your town or city hall, that would be the best place to start.

 

[ashade1]

Ok! I will call my City hall when they open! It is still too early! I also might call the bar and see if they know or if they own it... but it goes pretty far away from them so I doubt it.

 

[dahlia]

In my state, most of the counties have some of the real estate information online.  You can go to the county website and then to the assessor and search ownership by name or address.  The assessor website in my county allows you to chose the option of pulling up a map of the address you have put in and then you can click on adjoining property and it will give you ownership information on it as well.

 

[ashade1]

I was able to find a map online that has the property owners listed! It looks like a church owns it! I have sent an email to the church, I am hopeful that they will let me help!

 

[Norachan]

That sounds promising! I know other people have had a lot of help from church groups.

Please let us know how it goes.

 

[dahlia]

Have you heard back from the church yet?

 

[ashade1]

Hey guys! Sorry I have been so busy (we are currently fostering 15 kittens and their moms). I did hear back from the church and they gave me permission to feed and trap! I just heard back from her this morning, so this evening I set a big bowl of water down and two bowls of dry food... I didn't want to use wet food because I wasn't sure how long it would sit there until they came to eat it... Do you think if I keep setting food out everyday there that eventually they will start hanging around for food? The lady who told me about them said she usually sees them at night, but has seen them all over.

 

[Norachan]

Oh, that's great.



One good way to attract cats is to get some of that Asian Fish Sauce, the kind made of fermented anchovies, mix it with water and put it in a spray bottle. You can spray the ground and trees around the feeding station. The smell lasts for hours and usually brings any cat in the area running to check it out.

Do you have a trail camera to check who shows up?

 

[ashade1]

I will look into that! I don't have a trail camera... do you have a recommendation for one to get?

 

[Norachan]

I've got a L'il Acorn, the cheapest, most basic model they do. It's lasted me for years and survived all kinds of rough treatment.

I think shadowsrescue has got a much better one than me. She can watch what's happening at the camera site on her PC.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Yes, I do have cameras, but they are wireless outdoor ip cameras that need an internet source. I did have a trail camera at one time, but it did not work well in my yard. I used a Primos Truth trail camera that I got on Amazon. It was easy to set up and easy to use too. It just required D batteries.

 

[ashade1]

Ok! So I finally saw one of the cats today! A brown tabby! He/she was running away from the feed station when I got there. Some time this week I think I am going to make a covered feed station out of a tote like I saw on the Alley Cat page since it will be better in the rain, right now I just have bowls under one of the trees... A work in progress. Can you guys share pictures of your feeding stations?

 

[shadowsrescue]

Here are two of mine. The first one is my existing set up and the 2nd photo was of a rubbermaid tub. I did find that when the wind blew, my rubbermaid tub blew over. I even had placed bricks in it and on top. Yet if you have a location that is more sheltered the rubbermaid will work just fine.