Wisdom from a “Master Trapper” – Part 1

Trapping: It’s the core skill that anyone who wants to help community cats needs to learn. The more skilled a trapper you are, the more cats you can impact. But trapping cats is an art and a science, so in Wisdom from a “Master Trapper” – Part 1, we asked Stephanie Gillis, Cat Care Coordinator at Alley Cat Advocates in Louisville, KY, to share the wisdom she’s gained over time in this two-part blog post.

CCP: What are the top two or three things you know or have learned that you feel have made you a successful trapper?

SG:  Being patient is the most important “tool” in a trapper’s arsenal, besides your equipment. Cats are extremely patient creatures. but fortunately for humans, cats are very curious, so if you can wait that cat out, curiosity may just trap itself!

It’s also important to get inside the heads of community cats. While waiting to trap, some people play games on their phones, watch movies or read books. I like to stalk the cats: I watch how they move, how they react to new situations, how they interact with each other and their caretakers. I enjoy watching them play and climb trees. Community cats are endlessly fascinating to me: they are such athletic and amazing creatures. Once you can respect their way of life, you can place yourself in their “paws” and think, hmm; if I were in this position, how would I trap me?

CCP: I love the idea of you thinking about how to trap yourself! Tell us what types mistakes you think are frequently made by new or inexperienced trappers?

SG: First, trying to place the cats in the traps using their hands. Just because a cat lets you pet it doesn’t mean that cat is going to let you shove him or her into some strange steel apparatus. Also, if a cat is walking in to a trap on its own, do not nudge or attempt to shove the cat in the trap. If this doesn’t work, it will be litters before you are able to get that cat around a trap again.

Also, not getting the cats hungry enough. Not surprisingly,community cats make their decisions based on survival. They need to be hungry enough that they see not having food as a bigger threat than the trap.

Finally, you can’t have enough patience! As I mentioned before, patience is the key to trapping cats. When you’re out trapping community cats, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know yourself.

CCP: Stephanie, are there some misconceptions you think people who are considering becoming trappers have, like how much time it will take them or what resources they need?

SG: Absolutely. Before I started trapping cats, I had no idea how much time, planning and energy goes in to it. Time is a huge thing. You may sit there for three hours and not trap one cat.  I’ll bet that frustrates some would-be trappers.

The traps can be heavy, especially when they have cats in them. Sometimes your vehicle can end up a tad bit smelly. Shower curtains cancome in handy with this issue: use a shower curtain in your car first, then place a blanket on top of that before you set the occupied traps in your car for transport.

Then you have the weather to take into account:  extreme heat, extreme cold, rain, and thunder. My best advice for someone who is thinking about volunteering for a TNR organization is to do a ride-along with an experienced trapper two or three times first before just jumping into it. See what it’s really all about.

CCP: How did you decide on what equipment to use?  What do you use or recommend?

SG: The person who trained me had experience with box traps and drop traps. I prefer the drop traps for a number of reasons.

• First, a drop trap gives you more control over who you trap. You can have three cats under the drop trap eating that have already been altered (you can tell by ear tip!), and know you don’t have to pull the string to activate the trap. You can actually wait until the cat(s) still need of spay/neuters come along.
• You can trap 5 cats at a time, maybe even more. The most I have trapped at once is 5. That really helps you make a dent in a colony’s population.
• A drop trap doesn’t appear as threatening to the cats, so you are more likely to trap more cats than if you used box traps.  To the cats, it appears that they have 3 ways in and 3 ways out, and when survival is your main instinct, this seems to be a safer option than the box traps.

Learning to use the drop trap is more like developing a valuable skill. I would recommend that any aspiring trapper invest some time in practicing and polishing that skill.

Come back next week for the rest of Stephanie’s interview!