It's time to move the cat and her kittens onto people who'll help them find furever homes. You can read about how I found the stray cat in Mor-mor 沫沫 likes kittens.
A local cat rescue, Paws4Life, lent me the cat trap. It's a hefty beast! The trap is activated by a pressure plate which drops the front door. The plate is far enough in that the cat's tail won't get caught in the door. I don't want to have the mother separated from the kittens for too long, so I want them in the trap. The problem is that would make the pressure plate unreliable and a kitten might get injured.
I have an idea! Here's my supplies: Swiss Army Knife Huntsman model with a leather sheath, paracord, and scrap wood from the construction site next door. The paracord is factory seconds I bought by the kilo - which is why the colour changes.
Can you guess what I'm going to do?
Saw the wood to length. I got a little impatient and snapped the wood before sawing it cleanly. That left a small tag, which is useful for my purposes.
Notch near the bottom of the wood so the paracord stays on and doesn't slip. I could probably do without the notch, especially if I used a knot with multiple wraps, but I get one shot before the cat gets trap shy so I needed to be sure the cord would stay on. I used the small blade because Felix Immler on YouTube convinced me to trust the small blade for more tasks. Herr Immler is a genius with Swiss Army Knives and of course he was right.
Mor-mor helps inspect the trap. You can see I'm using a manual trigger - yank the cord and it pulls out the wood keeping the door up and then the door will fall. I used a Canadian jam knot to attach the paracord onto the wood. This is a simple knot that works well in Paracord for getting some good tension grip, but it's not too permanent.
The trap is set. The kittens have been moved from their box under the umbrella and a smelly tin of tuna is used as bait. Mor-mor kept the mother cat away while I set the trap because she was getting hissy and charging me. I don't blame the cat for being protective and I just want to get this part done as quickly as possible to minimise overall stress. Now, the cat is poking her head in to eat the tuna. I then moved the tuna to the back of the trap and waited.
First, I gently took up the slack then, one solid yank on the cord and the door slams shut. The poor cat bounced about trying to find a way out. I let her settle for a minute before coming to move her, but didn't want to wait too long because moving is stressful too.
Trap moved into my garage because it's warm and dry. I cut the box they'd been living in for the past few days and made it into a cover. With the bedding inside the trap already, I was hoping that some familiar smells would help calm the occupants. I covered the rest of the trap with a towel. Covering the trap helps destress the cat and keeps them warmer. I'll have to wait until the cat rescue opens in the morning. Mor-mor gives her approval, but wishes she got to babysit the kittens a bit more.
Welfare check an hour later. Family is settling in. Mum not happy, but at least she's calm. There's food and water at the back of the trap. Right, let's cover them again and get some sleep.
Cat and kittens went to Paws4Life in the morning. They know what they're doing. Until next time.