Wednesday, May 26, 2010

We’re Home : (

We got up yesterday,  had our coffee and then slowly started packing up to head home. 

The biggest problem was getting the kitties back in their carriers for travel.  Our two wild ones never would let us catch them, so they rode home “loose.”  They have to get in their cages in order for us to transport them to the house and they are afraid now, knowing something is going on.  They still don’t realize we won’t hurt them.  We have a live animal trap which we set with a can of food as bait….I think they will spend the night in the motorhome and will get real hungry if they don’t “take the bait.”  The little buggers.

We saw our injured Cormorant before we left again.  He still had a problem with his wing, but it looked a little better.  He was swimming around near shore.  I read that they eat crustaceans and there were plenty of little crabs along the shore for him to eat.  Someone from the fish and wild life department told Lynn that sometimes they injure a wing and then favor it a while until it heals.  I certainly hope this is the case here.  We feel sure he will be able to eat.  We’ve seen them dive 30 feet straight to the bottom of the water in pursuit of a fish, so I think he should be able to dive for fish also, as they don’t just their wings when diving.

Follow up note…

It is now Wednesday morning.  We set the live animal trap for the kitties.  The food/bait is gone, the door sprung shut and there are still two kitties in the motorhome!   Now they are REALLY afraid!

I guess we’ll have to go to plan “B”, I just wish I knew what it was!

6 comments:

  1. Okay this sounds horrible..but our vet told us this one...Set food out..stand there while they eat..grab them on the scruff of their necks and drop them into a pillow case..hold the top tight..deposit them in your home..It works..the minute it is dark they don't fight you.you do this same technique and try to put them in the cage..put they will fight you!!
    Good luck!!

    Cindy and Walker

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  2. Cindy...

    ha ha ha ha ha ha...that is so funny. Have you ever picked up a wild animal by the scruff of the neck, and put them into a pillow case? I can tell you that you will pull back a "nub."

    Al and I got a good laugh out of that suggestion. I know you meant well and I don't mean to insult you, but it's just soooo funny!

    These two are not regular cats that just don't want to go into a cage, but feral cats.

    I can do that with the others, but if I was able to grab these two by the scruff of the neck, they would fight me...actually I tried that yesterday with one AFTER she had some of the tranquilizer and I have the wound to prove it.

    Come down and help me. I'll hold the pillow case :)

    Any other suggestions??

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  3. We have the same problem when transporting our four house cats between PA and DE. Two of the four don't mind, but the other two - YOWZA!

    The last time, I got one of the two who hates the carrier, in a small room with his fav canned food, and closed the door. While he was eating, I quickly wrapped a towel around him, picked him up and put him in the carrier without getting scratched.

    I repeated it with the other one. I found if I did one at a time, it went easier because the other one didn't see what was happening.

    Our vet said to get pills from her (I think she meant the pills used to relax them and to prevent getting sick when traveling) but getting them to take a pill is a whole other story!!!!

    Connie

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  4. Hey Cindy - maybe you should take a video to show Karen how to do the amazing pillow case capture. Sounds like getting them in the "dark" would be a good idea - sort of like putting a cover over a yacking bird at night?

    Karen - This would probably work for Al - let him show you how to do it, ha ha.

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  5. We needed to catch a very cagey wild cat one time. Sardines! We did three or four drips of the oily water leading up to the cage, and the rest of the tin dumped onto a flat styrofoam meat tray... to make them smell even stronger spread out in the cage... and within 10 minutes.. BANG the door was shut!

    *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/

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  6. Thanks everyone for the suggestions...keep them coming!

    One problem with these two is they are FAT...so even if I could, I couldn't pick those two blimps up by the scruff of the neck. When I have been able to get a hold of either of them, they think I am trying to kill them, so they fight for their lives. Really, I haven't tried to kill either of them! Of course if they don't behave, that may change :)

    As far as getting them separated to try the blanket over them, that's a little problem in the MH, and now they have learned how to get under the bed through the opening in the BR slide. They can only get there with the slide in but they get UNDER the board that covers the slide mechanism, which is on top of what I see when I raise the bed (if you know what I'm trying to say)

    I would try to drug them again, but I can't separate them and am afraid I would overdose them..if one ate all the food/drugs meant for both of them! It'd be a shame to OD them ::::))) ???

    I guess they are telling us they are ready to go fulltime!

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