When cats are too smart for their own good
HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!
I know all of my readers know what TNR is; but let me just say a couple of things about “targeted” Trap, Neuter, Return which is what my our nonprofit, Project Delta View Cats, does.
We go door to door within intact neighborhoods to learn who is feeding abandoned community cats and whether or not they need no cost spay, neuter or perhaps medical treatment for the cats they feed. By targeting complete neighborhoods, or complete colonies in one location like our Riverview park cat colony, we are able to trap out the entire population to eliminate any possibility of further breeding. Abandoned community cats, left intact, are subject to a wide array of illnesses from fighting and mating. Once we can reduce the desire to roam and mate, we reduce not only unwanted kittens being born but we also increase the adult cats’ long term health.
I say all that ‘cuz now you will understand why Mom L and other volunteers have been trying for about three months to trap an intact male cat that comes for his meal once a day at one of our park feeding stations. The park feeders named him Freddie the Freeloader! MOL!!
Turns out that Freddie is what we call a “trap savvy” kind’a kitty. He hears a teensy tiny “clink” of metal and he is gone! This mancat has been trapped before. Now, the all our park cat colony is already spayed and neutered so we are not much concerned about him starting any “families” or fights in our park colony. BUT—cats roam and who knows where Freddie goes let alone how much we will improve his own health and well being if we can just trap him and get him “snipped”!
Standard trapping practice is to cover the baited trap with a towel to create the appearance of a safe dark space for the cat.
First time Mom L tried to trap Freddie, she did her usual “special bait” of salmon and stinky sardines. Freddie didn’t even bother to show up!!!
Next time Mom L used “camo” cover from a kids birthday party decorations. She baited it this time with ONLY stinky sardines. Of course, Mom L also sprinkled food grade diatomaceous earth under the area where the bait was to keep the stuppy ants away.
All set! Now where is the cat???
Mom L didn’t have long to wait. She sat in her car reading her latest book on her Kindle and after about thirty minutes, all of a sudden, there was Freddie!! Up above the feeding station where the trap was waiting for him.
Mom L was now on the alert! Watching Freddie’s every move. She was holding her breath when he slowly stepped carefully, on paw forward at a time, down the slight embankment toward that delightful smelling stinky trap!
Freddie was sniffing that tantalizing stinky goodness of those slimy, squishy canned sardines. It was almost more than he could stand.
Squeee! His head is under the trap door!!! GO FREDDIE!!!
And then, he ran up that hill like he knew the world was gonna end instantly!! MOUSES!!!
In a minute later, Mom L heard a “meew” under her car and a very skinny little girl kitty emerged, talking back to Mom L like they were gonna be best pals.
Next thing Mom L knew that kitty dashed, starving, into the trap!!! So Mom L and Freddie still have a few more “trap” dates to make sure he gets his “snip” appointment, but check out this totally darling, friendly ladycat that is now under our care.
Meet Chiquitita!! (Yes! After the ABBA song!
We are not certain, but Chiquitita may be a bilingual kitty. She appears to respond to Mom L’s “not so good” Spanish!
So, what have you been doing lately that just makes your day??!!
PAW PATS, SAVANNAH
Savannah's Paw Tracks 
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We’re glad you were able to trap Chiquitita! and we hope you get genius Freddie soon, too.
That was an unexpected ending!! LOL!
What a cute kitty!! Hope she’ll find a purr-fect new forever home!
Good luck with trapping Freddie the Free Loader! Mark had to tell me that Freddie the Freeloader is a character from Red Skelton’s comedy show! It’s so frustrating when a cat can smell a trap even under disguise. There were some kitties that I was never able to catch…someday Mr. Freddie will decide he is ready to be caught. 🙂
Well it was Chiquitita’s lucky day. Good luck with Freddy. Mom never could take Peter to the Vet even though he was very friendly and let Mom & the boys (they were very little then) pet him. But he wouldn’t let you hold him or pick him up and he wouldn’t go in an enclosed space not even the garage when it was cold.
Three days short of the last Feral Cat Day, I spotted a dead feral cat on the roadside, likely hit by a car. It was quite saddening to know his/her life and death would not at all matter to general society. On the contrary, many people would be glad that the cat would never harm another innocent bird, presuming it ever had.
About three years ago, it was reported that nearby Surrey had/has approximately 36,000 feral and stray cats, so many of which are allowed to suffer severe malnourishment, debilitating injury and/or infection by callously neglectful municipal government as well as individual residents who choose to remain silent. (Progress can also be made by discontinuing allowing pet cats to roam freely outdoors and notably risk them becoming another predator’s meal or some sadistic person’s target for a torturous death.)
When I made a monetary donation to the local Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) program, a lady volunteer left me a tearful voice mail expressing her appreciation, which to me suggested a scarcity of caring financial donors. These programs are typically underfunded by governments and private donors, regardless of their documented success in reducing the needless great suffering by these beautiful, sentient animals. It’s as though there’s a prevailing mentality of feline disposability; a subconscious human perception that the worth of such animal life (if not even human life in regularly war-torn or overpopulated famine-stricken global regions) is reflected by its overabundance and the protracted conditions under which it suffers.
Well, Mom L’s day wasn’t a complete loss- and Chiquita looks like a real sweetie.
So glad that Chiquitita was caught and is now off the streets. I know Freddie’s turn is coming. ~Ernie
Hiya I loved your post. Well done friend. I am in Phoenix airport waiting to come home. Great 4 night adventure. Lots of hard hiking, good food and vino and shopping at garlands. Oh yeah. So I’ll call u tomorrow! Josie
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We are glad that at least there was something positive of all this. Maybe a drop trap? Difficult as you have to sit and watch but maybe…
Come on Freddie, it is your turn dude!
I shared it Savvy. And I was sorry Freddie was too smart, as you meowed, for his own good. Thank goodness you got the little girl though.
Katie isabella
The cats in the Happy Forests are all mad for Weruva. I am not associated with that brand of cat food, we cannot even get it here, but I am told by several ppl from North America who feed that, that the cats are really into it.
Maybe Freddie can be tempted to go under a wooden cage – which mom would have to trigger herself with a line?
He might not only need a neuter – he might also need a dental.
what D you think of a wooden cage, Savvy? Seems like that may possibly work.
El Gato sin el sombrero?
I hope you can get Freddie soon. I’m glad that you were able to help Chiquitita.
Well, at least you nabbed Chiquitita! Paws crossed you get Freddie sooner than later.
we love Chiquitita…. do you think she can speak french too?