Shenandoah Mobile Estates is an area we worked on last year with some success. Danna called us because she was feeding a black and white momma and two older kittens. We caught the two kittens, which were spayed and returned, but momma escaped our trap and refused to go in again. These older kittens were her second litter, and she would probably be pregnant again soon.
There was a lot to do in other parts of Garden City, so GCCCP moved on to another project, knowing this was an unfinished problem.
Fast forward to May 2021. Claire emailed and asked if GCCCP could do something about the multiple cats roaming Shenandoah Mobile Estates. ”When I moved in last fall, a black and white female, who is apparently very trap wary, just had a litter of kittens. Now she’s had another litter.”
It was time to finish the job.
Claire was great at organizing the community to help with a more extensive trapping event. I introduced Claire to Danna so Danna could be a part of the continuing saga. This time the plan was to trap mom and, her new kittens, along with all the other cats roaming in the area.
We recruited feeders and set up “feeder traps” for cats to feed in. Feeder traps are open-end traps that cats feed in over a short amount of time. The cats get used to going into a cage to eat and enjoy the protection it provides. After Claire set up the trail cameras at the feeding sites, we could see that the mom and kittens loved the feeder traps and would play around them as well as eat in them.
The trail cam showed us which cats came and went.
We had about two weeks before our spay\neuter appointment.
It was exciting for the community when the day came to set the “live” traps. We set them in two locations, in the late evening, before the skunks came out to feed. Almost always you catch the mom and kittens in separate attempts. This time we caught the kittens on the first try. Mom had become a legend over time for being so shrewd. But she always seemed to be a good mom, so I was hoping to use that to finally capture her. I put one kitten in a closed trap and put a set trap right next to it. I covered them with one towel so if mom wanted to see her baby she would have to go in the open trap. Turns out she was a good mom and did just that. 😊
We captured 3 more cats from one end of the park to the other. Claire tried to rehome two of the adult cats but ended up letting them go back out. Danna tried to rehome the 2 she caught last year but found letting them be ferals and loving the outside worked better. Shenandoah Estates is a relatively safe
place for ferals…if they are spayed and neutered.
All the kitties are around the park and enjoying their summer. They will be well cared for by the residents.
