Feral Cat Capture

 

Feral cats cause problems when they damage property, spread diseases, make smelly messes, and kill desirable birds and mammals.

We recently had a customer request assistance in removing a feral cat from his home’s crawlspace.  The customer reported that from what he could tell the cat spent most of its days and nights in there, making a lot of racket and sometimes fighting with other cats.  We immediately sent a referral to Shawn, a wildlife control operator in the area who had worked with us before and who had the proper licensing.  

Shawn had a lot of experience with skunks, raccoons, and pigeons, but had never done a cat removal job.  Using coaching, technology, and patience, we were able to walk Shawn through the entire job. 

Since Shawn already had lots of experience in trapping wild animals, he was familiar with many of the trapping methods and products that are frequently used in this business such as traps, lures, and snarepoles.  What he was uncertain about was how this particular kind of wild animal would likely react to him trying to catch it.  Of course, wild animals can behave unpredictably, but they do have patterns and behaviors that they usually follow.  Familiarity with those behaviors makes the trapping process much easier.

Shawn emiled us several digital pictures of the house and crawlspace from all sides.  He included some extra shots of the cat’s access points to the crawlspace area and some measurements of the space.

Our professional wildlife removal coach talked Shawn through the process, and after several attempts he was finally able to catch the cat with a snare pole.  It turned out she was a large female who was getting ready to birth a litter in a few days.  She’d set up a den in the crawlspace for her soon-to-be-born kittens.

After the animal was removed Shawn did some cleanup work under the house and sanitized and deodorized the area.  Then he performed a few repairs to the skirting around the house and sealed up all the potential access points to prevent further animal problems.

Nationwide Feral Cat Control: 1-888-488-7720

Coaching Services for Professional Trappers and Do-It-Yourselfers: 1-888-488-7720 

 

Spay and Neuter Your Animals—Feral Cats are a Sad Situation

Feral cats lead hungry and difficult lives. They cause problems for people when they trigger allergic reactions or asthma flare-ups, and they usually bring mess, smell and disease. They also pose a risk to household pets.

It is spring and baby animals are appearing all over.  That means a very busy season for the wild animal control business.  We get baby raccoons out of chimneys and baby possums out of crawl spaces and baby snakes (and a lot of adult ones, too) out of yards. 

While some problems are definitely spring specific, others never seem to go away.  Some of the saddest animal situations I deal with are the problems associated with feral cats.  An animal is considered feral if it is descended from animals that were once domesticated, but have escaped or been released into the wild.  The animals act wild, but are not truly wild.  They do not do well in the wild.  They have very short, hard lives full of fighting for resources and frequent hunger.  They do not seek out the wilderness or wild places because they lack the skills and resources to survive there.  So, while they don’t want to be petted and loved, they often seek out human habitations.  They will take up residence in outbuildings, under porches, decks or crawl spaces or even in playhouses, tree houses or garages.

Nationwide Feral Cat Control and Removal: 1-888-488-7720

While feral cats are a year-round problem, it does seem to pick up a bit in the spring as the animals do tend to have more litters of kittens this time of the year.  One animal isn’t much of a problem, but it quickly multiplies and suddenly there are 20 or more everywhere-fighting, making messes, spraying and reproducing even more.

People contact shelters, animal rescue associations and local, county or state government, usually without finding anyone who can help them.  We can help.  Wild animal control companies deal with feral animals.  We are able to live trap the animals and take them to shelters and animal rescues which are able to help.  Policies of shelters and feral cat rescues vary, but whatever happens the animals are treated humanely. 

As a property owner you do not have to put up with allergies or asthma, mess, smell, disease and danger to your own pets.  We can get rid of the feral cats and help to make sure they do not return.  Don’t wait until you are at your wits end.  You can get rid of feral cats in a humane way and get back your life.

One final note: spay or neuter your pets.  The feral cat problem becomes worse when excess litters of kittens are born.  There are just not enough homes for all of them.