Be Prepared To Adapt When Your Capture Plan Goes Awry
By Jim Russell
March 2006

This is a short story of catching and securing a feral Mother cat in late February using a “high tech” trap. This specially-made trap is four feet long and three feet wide with a hinged top that has a mesh net. The top is propped up by a stake with a string attached to the bottom of the stake. A remote controlled race car is attached to the string and activated at a distance or inside the house by the remote control. The car lunges forward pulling the stake out and the top comes down to catch the animal. This is a high tech trap.

 One thing about high tech things is that you have to get them just right to work. We all know, for example, about the quirkiness of Microsoft Windows and Office software. Anyway, we set the trap out on Saturday morning. The cat came to eat and entered the trap. I pushed the remote levers but the race car that pulls the trap stake out aborted because the wheel guards on the back wheels were not down. Here, I violated Russell’s third law by not testing the bejesus out of the high tech stuff before the crucial event. So the wheels spun, the car made much loud noise but didn’t move to pull the stake out. The cat, however, did not have similar restrictions. She whirled and left a blue streak trail out of the trap, across the yard, over the fence, across the neighbor’s yard and into his patio. She slept there contemplating events for many hours returning to our fence line hours later. There she sat calculating the risk/reward ratio for a long time-namely, hunger versus danger. Finally, she came down cautiously about 4 PM, entered the trap but her tail was over the edge for some time. Finally, things (tail, body, etc.) were just right and I pushed the remote levers forward springing the trap. The Mother cat leaped up into the mesh but it was too late. We had her! Victory was at hand, or so we thought. We rushed out to cover the trap with a blanket and make the transfer into the carrying cage. It was quite challenging coaxing the cat into the carrying cage but we got it done and “latched” the cage door and covered the carrying cage with a towel.

I carried the cage into the house to put the cat in our new, downstairs bathroom for overnight. The cat was fighting the cage like hell. Next thing we knew the cat flipped up the door and was out of the cage in our new room (the door latch was not secured right and this violated another Russell Law but I can’t remember offhand which one). Needless to say the cat’s exit was a shocking event especially since she raced across the room and shot up the wall 8-10 feet to the ceiling while yowling loudly. After four or five such Herculean attempts (its sort of a blur) the cat veered left and shot into a corner crevice. I was impressed with the power of the cat. She made the Olympic extreme events look tame. Although dazed, shocked and a bit addled, we still concluded that cat was indeed performing impressive feats which were not helping our quest one bit. I got her in a corner but she shot out, across the room and landed high on the top of the cabinet that holds the little plaques. Needless-to-say, it was more than clear that catching the cat would be a major problem if not hopeless. I climbed up on the filing cabinets to reach her but she shot up on top of the curtain rods and raced to the other side of the room. After she made five or six more spectacular room crossings (I don’t remember) at the speed of light knocking down trophies, plaques and other objects and displaying amazing speed, power and dexterity, Ginny said let’s just let her out. Or maybe she made that suggestion five or six times, I don’t remember.

But the old trapper in me was not going to give up so easily. Taking the easy road out or using discretion were never my chosen paths when a major wildlife management challenge was to be met. So, after chasing her for ten minutes or so more (I don’t remember) I maneuvered her in the corner wedged between the wall and the computer desk. I put on leather gloves, reached into the den of snarl and claws and got a blanket somewhat over her (what’s that old saying about don’t corner a wild animal?). However, it was hard to see in the tight corner and she was not lying still. I got the blanket over her but she started to squirt out so I tried to grab her on the back of the neck while the fight was going on. But I couldn’t see and unfortunately grabbed her by the side and back instead. This enabled her to clamp down and bite my finger pretty good. But I held on and got her in the cage and securely into the bathroom. Then, we went to repair my finger and reconstruct the room. This didn’t take more than two hours (I don’t remember). Victory was at hand!

We took her to Jill, the cat environmentalist Saturday night. Jill took nine such cats to the vet on Sunday. The Mother cat will come back for release in our yard the next day. I don’t know if we will see her again. Probably, neither of us cares much either way.

I guess that’s just about it for this short story. I’ll worry about writing lessons learned some other time. Victory was achieved but at what price and how can we do better next time?  Are you kidding me!!

Epilogue

The cat was released and did return for feeding a week later. So, there is a happy ending after all. 

Hereafter, my stories will have more to do with the lighter side of employee ownership and entrepreneurship  and their role in the advancement of science and technology. After 34 years at SAIC, I am a firm believer and advocate of the principles and power of these two important factors in the success of the companies like SAIC. I also learned that people become more motivated when business and technical things are kept on the lighter side. So use Dr. B’s blog to suggest stories on the lighter side and I will see about incorporating them.

Jim

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