#96 Cat traps must be checked

It’s laundry day around here, which means there’s an extra chore that needs to be added to the list: the cat traps need to be checked regularly.

We’re on a strict catch and release program, mind you, so we haven’t seen any fluctuation in the cat population as a result of our trapping efforts. But on the flip side, we haven’t actually seen any reduction in the number of cats we trap each laundry day.

If anything, it seems to be increasing.

You’d think they’d figure it out and stop getting trapped, but it doesn’t quite work that way. If anything, when one gets trapped, he seems to invite his buddies along for the fun, as in “Hey guys, let’s see just how many cats this trap will hold today.”

Just a hint, it isn’t any more than the same trap held last week—although with the regularity of their testing, you’d think they might actually have found some change. But no, each cat trap seems to hold the same number every single time.

We have found they do seem to respond to different bait, though. My laundry, well that usually gets ignored, unless of course it includes my big fluffy robe—then naturally you can count on snagging a cat or two with that.

Thankfully they do not seem to find underwear and socks extremely appealing bait. Naturally we are all very grateful for that.

So then, what makes the best cat trap bait? Around here, it is my husband’s work shirts. Those are pure gold, guaranteed to always catch a cat, even if not placed in a cat trap first. Curious though, how my husband does not seem to appreciate how reliably his shirts can lure a cat out into the open, nor the cats’ utter bliss the while wrapping themselves in them.

Go figure.