Still no luck catching the long haired calico that had the last litter of kittens at my neighbor’s house. While trying I may have spotted an even more elusive gray tabby female, who may or may not hang out mostly across the street but has been sight unseen at home for a couple weeks. Hm.

I tried several different things this time around. Sardines were outright scoffed at, the colonies regular wet food and pouch tuna were not alluring, although the tuna attracted other cats.

I also tried putting a blue tooth speaker in a box at the end of the cage. I connected my phone and played plaintive kitten sounds. This attracted the attention of a fixed male, who investigated but did not go in, and a fixed female, who did not approach but just stared from a distance. Momma cat was sight unseen. This may have been because a neighbor dog was on the loose and running around all the houses. I turned off the kitten noises until he went away, then realized I had lost bluetooth connection. Arg.

This beautiful black cat has been evading capture for over a year. I finally caught it with a can of sardines. When not actively trapping, I would leave the trap open with a can of sardines inside. When I came back, the sardines would be gone, so I’d set the trap (I use a pull stick on a string rather than the trap mechanism), and wait. And wait. And wait. It circled five times, with three partial entries before it made the commitment to go for the tin in the back. This was only after our neighbor withheld food in the morning. I’ve used the neutral pronoun because I was convinced at the time of catching that this cat was male. Nope. The TNR papers declared her female, and not pregnant.

I did not get the unfixed calico also evading the trap. I’m going to have to get more creative with that one.

I have learned that listening to audio books during stake out helps pass the time. I use headphones so the sound doesn’t carry. If I do any crafty thing, they see my movement in the car and shy away.