Let the Trapping Begin

I picked up the live traps from CatSnip HI this morning as soon as they opened at 10; I wanted to make sure I got all 4 traps I had been told I would need to trap 4 adult cats & 14 kittens by this Thursday morning. I did. I also was able to spend more time talking with Sarah the coordinator for the clinic appointments & got more information about dropping them off; I need to text her every day to let her know I have cats to drop off so that there will be someone there to receive them.

In the parking area, waiting for them to bring the traps out to me.

The cats did not suspect a thing this morning when I fed them. It was business as usual.

The 4 moms & 6 of the 14 kittens.

Once I got home, I set up the trap in the garage 1st. This one will be for Olomea & her 2 kittens; she has not brought them to the front porch to eat. However 'Alani, the all orange male, has come on his own; his dilute calico sister Pa'ipa'i is a little more hesitant & has never come to the front porch. I set up Camera 2 to monitor the trap.

Then I moved to the front porch & set up a trap there; Hahai, Holoi, & Olomea were there with a handful of kittens. The adults have learned that I will feed them as soon as I get back home so they have come to recognize the sound of the car; I purposefully trained them to expect food when the car returns. In less than a minute after setting the trap I caught Hahai; I did not even have time to get back in the house. I was actually taking photos of the set up when Hahai began to walk in to the trap so I stayed very still & watched her get trapped!

I covered the trap & put Hahai in the back bedroom & started to set up the next trap. Only Holoi & Olomea were on the ramp; the kittens had all disappeared when the 1st trap snapped shut. In about a minute I had Olomea! I also put her in the back bedroom, next to Hahai. I positioned the towels so they could see each other but other sights were blocked off.

Olomea hesitates for a moment before entering the trap.

Fortunately the kitten in the background was far enough away it did not get hit by the door.

I set up the last trap. Holoi came up immediately but tried to figure out how to get at the food without going in the front opening of the trap. After several unsuccessful minutes of walking around the trap she cautiously entered the front of the trap. Since the trigger plate is so far at the back of the trap I think she was lulled in to thinking nothing would happen. But she did get trapped! I had her join her sisters in the back bedroom; about 10 minutes after I put her back there someone quietly meowed a couple of times. I think it was Holoi since she does the most meowing to call her kittens.

Holoi tries to find a way in from the back of the trap.

Finding none, she enters from the front.

I closed the door so the cats would remain calmer.

I had asked Sarah if I could bring the cats in today if I was able to trap them before noon; she said no since they would not have any cages prepared for them. I don't agree with their policy, they should always have cages prepared; when I volunteered at Sarvey Wildlife Center we always had cages ready to receive any injured wildlife that people dropped off. So now the 3 moms will have to spend the night without food, water, or bathroom breaks.

I went back out to the front porch & put out a bowl of dry food; I had been using wet food to lure the cats in to the trap. I think it was serendipitous that I was feeding Mom Cat wet food when she 1st returned so it would be easier on her. The other cats liked to steal her food so it was a good lure to get them in to the trap. Only Pōloli & one of the twins showed up to eat after the trapping.

Later, around the time I usually put food out for their late afternoon meal, I filled up the bowl again. Mom Cat showed up 1st. Slowly kittens began appearing; there were 10 that showed up to eat. The kittens that did not come to eat were Olomea's 2 kittens ʻAlani & Paʻipaʻi and 2 of Hahai's kittens, Hualiʻi & Hilahila. I will move the trap in the garage to the front porch for the morning feeding to see if I can catch Mom Cat before the receiving time at CatSnip HI.

Mom Cat & 10 of the 14 kittens.

I focused on getting things set up to catch cats today so I didn't do anything else. Sort of. Because the wet food is dropped through the top mesh of the cage, bits fell through the bottom as I moved each cage to the back bedroom. So in between each set up I was wiping up bits of wet food on the floor from the front door to the back bedroom. It's a small price to pay to get them spayed.

As usual, I gave the front porch kittens their evening meal before I eat dinner; there were 10 kittens present & I saw Hualiʻi & Hilahila who had not been at the morning feeding. I still did not see ʻAlani & Paiʻipaʻi. 

Ten of the 14 kittens.

While I was feeding them, I heard the trap in the garage snap shut. When I went to check the trap I found that I had caught Paʻipaʻi; I was very pleased! She was the one I was most concerned about catching since she has never come to the front porch & I rarely see her. I hope I can socialize her.

I quickly set up Trudy's goat kennel in the bathroom so Paʻipaʻi could stay in there. I will use it until it becomes too crowded with kittens, then I will split them up in to the shower stall as well. My plan is to put the more socialized kittens in the shower stall since they would be less likely to try & make a break for it when I open the door to feed them or change the litter box.

I also gave the front porch kittens another feeding, a light one; I saw 'Alani this time. And I caught Hoʻokoa by hand; I don't think he appreciated it. But now Paʻipaʻi will have a buddy to spend the night with in a scary, new place. 

Hoʻokoa tries to find a way out of the goat kennel.

I also set up my kitten weighing system using a square plastic ice cream container. Hoʻokoa weighed in at 2.3 pounds so he is ready for the clinic. Paiʻipaʻi is 2.01 pounds so I will have to fatten her up by the end of the week if she is to get spayed in the upcoming clinic. Only 12 more kittens to trap!

Setting the tare weight; I switched it to pounds.

Hoʻokoa's weight.

Paʻipaʻi's weight; she needs to be at least 2.1 pounds before they will spay her.

I gave Paʻipaʻi & Hoʻokoa the Blue Buffalo Healthy Growth Kitten food. I am going to let all of the kittens free feed so I can fatten them up for the spay/neuter clinic which is in 4 days. I hope Holoi's kittens, who were born the latest, get caught soon so I can feed them more kitten food & fatten them up; they are only 10 weeks old. The remaining kittens seem to still view the porch as a safe place; some of them were playing with Da Bird & wrestling with each other after the food was gone this evening.

Since Pa'ipa'i was caught before I had dinner, I ended up eating dinner at 9:30; quite a bit later than my usual 7:30 cut-off time. I then took a shower in the outdoor shower since I did not want to traumatize Pa'ipa'i & Ho'okoa any more than they already have been this evening. I had a little company when I started my shower but I quickly eliminated them. 

Can you spot the cockroach?

There it is!

There were actually 2 of them, but I got them both!

The weather today was very nice during the day. Though I don't think it would have made much difference with trapping the cats.

Looking southeasterly at 11 minutes before sunrise.

Looking westerly at 9:45 am.

The Roomba had a slight glitch this morning & did not clean the guest bedroom; I sent it back out again. But the battery was low so it had to recharge before it could finish. But when it got going again it cleaned all the rooms. Tomorrow it will have to skip the back bedroom & the bathroom since the cats will be in those rooms when it does its cleaning rounds early in the morning.

I don't think so; that's only the east portion.

That's more like it!

Hurricane Darby is still in the Eastern Pacific region about 1950 miles easterly of Hilo, but is expected to cross over in to the Central Pacific region some time on Thursday. It is the reason the tent at the church was lowered after lunch yesterday. When Darby crosses in to the Central Pacific, it is expected to decrease from a hurricane to just storm level winds. All that means is that winds will be less than 74 mph which is still a lot. The lower limit for the storm category is 39 mph which could still do a lot of damage to the tent; think of it as a car going 39 mph & hitting something. It's not nothing.

There was a Magnitude 6.0 earthquake southwest of Upolu Island in Samoa today around lunch time. It did not generate a tsunami.

Hau'oli lā Hānau e Kasimir!