When to trap mama and 6 kittens?

[2 dozen]

Mama feral living within mountain rock wall that was blasted for parking lot. She has 6 kittens that still nurse but also eat cat food. How old would that make them, 2-3 monhs? Have not had much experience with such young kittens. Do I start trapping and in what order? Kittens too young for surgery but should I try for mama or wait till kittens older? A friend just started working with socializing kittens and has 2 that will be adopted on Oct 7 so she does not want any of these till then. Advice about who to trap first and when. Thank you.

 

[iPappy]

Even at 2-3 months, they will turn very feral very quickly. I'm sure they're already wild, but at 8 weeks or so it doesn't take long at all IME for them to start playing and being interested and curious about people once they're safely inside.
Do you have a place for them to be inside and safely contained until your friend can take them? Can she take the Mama too? Can you approach any of them at all, or do they run? If you need to trap them all (can't catch the kittens by hand), you could potentially start feeding them in a large airline dog crate, and once they're all in, close and lock the door (wear gloves in case you get clawed, and bring a tarp to put over the carrier, it does help calm them.) This might not work on Mama and she might need a live trap (aka humane trap). You'll want to keep it very discreet looking. It helps if you can put it up against something or under something and maybe cover it a bit so it doesn't look like a stand alone wire cage. Use the smelliest food you can think of.
I hope this helps a little, and I hope more experienced site users will have some input.

 

[susanm9006]

I think you do want to catch them all as soon as possible. Mama, because she is going to get pregnant again, if she isn’t already, and you don’t want to leave the babies on their own.

 

[2 dozen]

Thank you both for your responses. I have been trapping for a number of years but rarely kittens and that's been quite a few years ago. So I should trap them all now. OK. I have a 3 level cage for the kittens and after mama's surgery should I keep her to feed the kittens or release her? As soon as I start the car they all run into the crevices in wall. I have regular traps and a drop trap for a mama that I've been trying to trap for 4 years.

 

[fionasmom]

I agree that getting the kittens as soon as you can is the best way to go....from someone who has not done that a couple of times and was ultimately running all over the neighborhood trying to get them before anyone went into heat.

Is mom so feral that you feel there is no hope for getting her a home? Where will she live if you release her and will she have some access to food?

 

[2 dozen]

Until I trap mama I won't know how feral she is. They all rush back into the rock wall when they hear the car. I release the adults where I trapped them so mama will go back there and I and a friend will feed her. Thank you or your response. Did not see them yesterday, am heading up there now.

 

[iPappy]

Until I trap mama I won't know how feral she is. They all rush back into the rock wall when they hear the car. I release the adults where I trapped them so mama will go back there and I and a friend will feed her. Thank you or your response. Did not see them yesterday, am heading up there now.

Any news? If they hear the car and run, that's frustrating for a trapper but very good for their safety.

 

[2 dozen]

So I spent 5 hours sitting in the parking lot, saw mama run back into rocks. 2 hours later she came out but did not go close to traps. She walked across road and grassy median to maintenance parking lot and under fence at far end and did not come back, I live in a mountain community with minimal traffic weekdays, busy on weekends as most homes are vacation homes. I left at 5:30 with no sign of kittens. I am assuming kittens are still there or she wouldn't be.

 

[iPappy]

So I spent 5 hours sitting in the parking lot, saw mama run back into rocks. 2 hours later she came out but did not go close to traps. She walked across road and grassy median to maintenance parking lot and under fence at far end and did not come back, I live in a mountain community with minimal traffic weekdays, busy on weekends as most homes are vacation homes. I left at 5:30 with no sign of kittens. I am assuming kittens are still there or she wouldn't be.

If she ran out to the rocks, hopefully the kittens are still in there. That, or if she went elsewhere and didn't come back, maybe she moved them. IDK how old kittens usually are before Mama stops moving them but it's a possibility. You're very dedicated to sit in a parking lot for 5 hours!!!