Winter Trapping Tips - by Mike Phillips, Urban Cat League - Winter 2009 - NYC Eartips

New York City Feral Cat Initiative - Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Hand/foot warmers or two 9-volt batteries plugged into one another can produce just enough heat to keep frozen bait warm and stinky. (Photo by Mike Phillips)

Hand/foot warmers or two 9-volt batteries plugged into

one another can produce just enough heat to keep frozen

bait warm and stinky.

Photo by Mike Phillips

Home > NYC Eartips > Winter 2009 > Winter Trapping Tips

Winter Trapping Tips

by Mike Phillips, Urban Cat League

Even during the coldest months, you can complete a trapping project. Following are two tips that can help you to be successful:

How can you get cats to walk on the cold wire bottom of a trap when newspaper lining blows in the winter wind and scares them off?

Magnetic vent covers to the rescue! Magnetic vent covers can be acquired at most hardware stores or at Home Depot. Frost King is one brand to look for. The covers lie flat in the trap even in strong wind and, if placed correctly, can actually encourage the cat to step onto the trip plate. (Leave a section of the wire bottom exposed between the vent cover and the trip plate). They are easily cut so you can place a small piece of the vent cover in the back of the trap, where you then can place the bait. If you use transfer cages like I do, or have a "lucky trap" you like to use over and over again, the covers wipe clean easily between uses. Best of all, you can leave the trap in place and just take the cover out to put down a fresh trail of bait. This avoids carrying the trap back and forth to re-bait the traps. I love these things, even when it's not windy!

Magnetic vent covers can make a cold trap more enticing to cats. (Photo by Mike Phillips)

Magnetic vent covers can make a cold trap

more enticing to cats.

Photo by Mike Phillips

How can you get cats to go into the traps if the bait is frozen and they can't even smell it?

Here are two ways to keep your sardines thawed and stinking to high heaven, even on the coldest days. Two small 9-volt batteries plugged into one another will produce heat, or Valerie Sicignano suggests using one of the disposable hand or foot warmers you can buy to put into your gloves or socks. They stay warm for hours and are available at Bed, Bath & Beyond, Eddie Bauer, and most camping and hardware stores. Placed under a paper plate, they will keep the bait smelly and warm, instead of like a fish popsicle.

What is YOUR favorite cold weather trapping or caretaking solution? E-mail info@NYCFeralCat.org.

About the Author

Mike Phillips is the founder and President of Urban Cat League. He began his work for animals as a cage cleaning volunteer with Beingkind in New York City. Within six months he was the Volunteer Coordinator and enrolled in veterinary technician school. He has worked as a veterinary technician in the Intensive Care Unit at the ASPCA's Bergh Memorial Hospital and was the supervising veterinary technician in their Adoption Center in Manhattan. He helped start the first TNR training workshops in New York City when he was the President of Neighborhood Cats. As the President of Urban Cat League, he taught the first kitten socialization workshops in the city. His tried-and-true taming techniques are featured in Tough Love: Socializing Feral Kittens, a video used by animal shelters around the world.

Photos courtesy of Meredith Weiss and NeighborhoodCats, unless otherwise noted

NYC Feral Cat Initiative • c/o Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals • 244 Fifth Avenue, Suite R290 • New York, NY 10001 • (212) 330-0033 • info@NYCFeralCat.org