I am asking TNR volunteers to tell me which kind of trap they use. I am sure there are many variations of animal trap. In this article I’d like to hear on the success rate of drop traps compared to standard traps.
The Rupert SPCA in BC, Canada plan to change from sliding door traps to drop traps because they believe that they are more effective in catching savvy and wary feral cats.
It appears that feral cats may be reluctant to enter standard sliding door traps. Perhaps they have learned to be wary of them. Amy Stacey from the Rupert SPCA believes that they may be able to trap cats who steer clear of the standard traps.
The video below on TNR shows standard traps. I have started the video at the point where she explains the operation of the trap.
Drop traps catch more cats. That’s the catch phrase! As I understand it, this is because cats don’t realise that they are walking into a trap. The difference is that they don’t have to enter a wire mesh container which is what cats have to do when being trapped by standard traps. This probably makes them wary as they are entering a narrow tunnel.
The drop trap is wide open as the trap is propped up on one side by a prop stick. The cat does not have to enter a container.
Also, they are big enough to trap more than one cat at a time. The downside is getting the cats into a cage that you can carry so they can be taken to a vet for sterilising.
Trapped cats will be frightened. They may charge into the walls of the trap hurting themselves. It seems that you have to coax them into a cat carrier as shown in the video.
I have watched a couple of videos of TNR volunteers coaxing cats from drop traps into carriers and it looks tricky and distressing to be perfectly frank.
Is it true that drop traps are more effective than standard traps but the downside is getting the cats out of the trap?
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I never had much trouble transferring from the drop trap to the humane trap and I had to do it alone. I would cover the humane trap after I lined it up and I’d uncover the drop trap. The cat wants to run to the covered shelter. When I had to relocate my colony I caught everyone except the mama cat using the drop trap. I had to start by placing the food near the front of the drop trap because my boys wouldn’t go all the way under. Each day I’d move it back some but was never able to move it all the way back. I’d watch and wait until they were comfortably eating a pull the rope. In all I trapped around 20 using the drop trap.