For traps you might try your local Humane Society, feed stores, or pet shops to see if they rent traps. Once you get a trap here's some good rules to follow:
Do not feed the cats for 48 hours before you try to trap them. They will not go into the traps unless they are really hungry.
Set the traps around the area where the cats are used to being fed. You can also set up in areas where they are seen. In general cats like to be up against walls, etc. so you are more likely to catch them there.
Put newspaper, folded in half length wise, in the bottom of the trap and put a small amount of smelly food on a lid or other small item in the back of the trap against the door that will remain closed. Sprinkle a very small amount of the food along the newspaper in one or two places. Never put any food outside the trap itself. Suggested food: Tuna fish; sardines; Fancy Feast salmon or other smelly cat food.
As you trap the cats and move them be sure to look at the ground. Sometimes the tuna or other food you use for bait will spill onto the ground. Pick it up immediately if you have not yet caught all the cats you are trying to trap. You don’t want it to be eaten by the other cats you are trying to trap.
Once cat is trapped immediately cover the trap completely with a towel or sheet then take the cat away from the area. (Careful – they can move back and forth quickly in the trap and catch you off balance.)
It takes a while for other cats to come back in the area after a cat is trapped so be patient. It gets harder to catch the remaining cats with every trap they see or hear go off.
If you don’t have access to a trap, you can try trapping in a carrier, but this is way more tricky. You need to cover the carrier with towels so they can’t view you from the side and back openings. Tie a string or something on the door so you can close it fast and hard once the cats go inside to eat. Once they realize they’re trapped they’ll use all force to open the door. If you use a carrier you might try feeding in it for about a week with door tied so it won’t close on them. Once they go in the carrier on a regular basis, you may be able to catch them pretty easily!
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors in cities, towns, and rural areas are humanely trapped, then evaluated, vaccinated, and sterilized by veterinarians. Kittens and tame cats are adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats too wild to be adopted are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of volunteers
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