Although, I am reasonably sure you will never see this in the pages of Cat Fancy, to me it is just what I wanted. Far enough away from the house to feel secure, protected against the elements and we just used up all our leftover lumber. I’m hoping this is the last project for awhile.
The “trap” has a wire that runs under the door and out the top of the private feeding chamber. I will be leaving it open for about a week so the cats get used to going in and out- then I will take the wire and bring it out into the yard, so I can sneak up on the cats (HA!) and trap them. Once the door swings shut- it can’t be opened from inside.
Is the plan to leave the feeder on that table, or is that just for demonstration purposes?
No the feeder stays on that table opened up for now. On the trapping day, I will only put food inside that feeder and monitor who goes in to eat. When Merlin goes in, I will pull the wire and trap him but that isn’t for about a week or so. I want them to get used to eating up there now.
I hope it works. They are so blasted clever when it comes to survival – and that means staying out of traps!
I like that the trap isn’t really a trap, yet. It’s just a food box until you pull the cord. Once you pull that cord, any cat watching will know & may hesitate in the future.
There’s a tough feral over here that refuses to eat in the trap ever again! I caught him once, vetted him, released him in my yard. But I worried that I’d never catch him for the next emergency vet visit. A year later, tried to train him to feed in a tunnel trap tied open. He went hungry for a week. Refused to go in, no eats could tempt him. I caved, removed the trap and he eats regular now. And I still worry.