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The <strong>Neighborhood</strong> <strong>Cats</strong> <strong>TNR</strong> <strong>Handbook</strong><br />
some ventilation, will buy you a little time, but not a lot. A plastic drop cloth should be<br />
used to line the seats or floor of any vehicle being used to transport the cats.<br />
A flashlight is necessary if you’re trapping at night or in a dark space like a basement.<br />
Needle-nose pliers are handy if a trap’s trigger mechanism needs adjustment though it<br />
takes some experience to do this properly. A fraction of an inch can be the difference<br />
between an adjustment that works or doesn’t. Vegetable oil spray is good for traps whose<br />
parts need a little lubrication.<br />
A basic first aid kit is a smart thing to have on hand in the unlikely event of a bite or<br />
scratch or some other injury. Quickly cleaning a wound inflicted by a cat can stop a more<br />
serious infection from developing later. The kit should at a minimum include hydrogen<br />
peroxide, cotton balls and band-aids.<br />
If you’re trapping at multiple sites, the traps should be labeled when a cat is caught to<br />
avoid mixups later about where the cat came from. Use a different color label for each<br />
colony and stick it on the top of the trap by the handles. Write the location of the colony<br />
on the label, plus give the trap a number (going sequentially) and write that on the label,<br />
too.<br />
The cats should be logged, using a tracking sheet similar to the one on page 108.<br />
This can be done at the site or later in the holding space provided the traps have already<br />
been labeled. Use a different sheet for each colony. One idea is to attach a piece of a<br />
label to the tracking sheet which matches the color designated for that colony. This too,<br />
avoids mixups.<br />
Finally, having another person assisting you is highly advisable, especially when<br />
trapping multiple cats. Attention to more than one cat or trap at a time may be needed.<br />
Also, if an item was forgotten or a phone call needs to be quickly made in the heat of the<br />
action, having help can make a huge difference. At the same time, don’t have more<br />
helpers than you need. Too many people standing around talking can make the cats more<br />
wary. For smaller colonies, two or three people will do just fine. As you approach 20 or<br />
more cats, three or four is a good number.<br />
• Winter trapping<br />
Some <strong>TNR</strong> workers don’t like to trap during the winter because the females have<br />
their stomachs shaved and lose that protection against the cold. In our experience, the<br />
lost fur does not cause the cats to get sick if they have warm, dry shelter. Before any<br />
winter trapping, efforts should be made to ensure adequate shelter will be available after<br />
the release.<br />
Trapping in the cold season has its advantages. There are far fewer pregnancies and<br />
so difficulties with young kittens and nursing mothers can be largely avoided. Plus you<br />
can get a step ahead of the spring kitten season.<br />
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