To catch a kitten.

[triangleforge]

put the food/milk/water in the carrier, along with a towel or some other soft item. he will become used to it, and may actually end up sleeping there.

One word of advice: don't be putting your face next to the door to the carrier when you go to change the food in there. After dark. In a woodsy neighborhood full of big-ass raccoons. Don't ask me how I know.

[corey]

lol... wow. this thread is getting way more attention than i thought it would!
anyway, got home from work today... sure enough... his little black and white head is poking out from under our front porch.
he's found a hole to call home under there...

i'll put the cat carrier away tomorrow... i figured it was a bad idea.
i'm just going to keep feeding him. eventually he wont fit in that hole anymore, and he'll have to get used to me if he wants that free grub!

i'll try and grab a pic of him. but he sees, smells or hears anything coming and he's in that damn hole.

i had to laugh. i found my self playing cat and mouse... only the cat was the mouse... irony, i loves it.

[corey]

still there!
i put a small (clean) sock out near the food to get him used to my scent. got home yesterday from work and he was literally rolling around in the dirt wrestling with this sock.

put a t-shirt out this morning, it's supposed to storm pretty bad so i hope he's alright.

it's a lousy, out of focus cell phone pic, but you can see him make the beast with two backsing that sock up pretty good.

[Speedbag]

I put an old, folded bathroom rug under the edge of the deck thinking my stray might use it for a bed.

He just lays next to it.  Still not interested in getting near me.

[sugarcrook]

Maybe call your local vet, or cat-specific vet, for advice on how to gain the cat's confidence.  Is your ultimate goal to bring him inside? 

[Speedbag]

I want mine to be an outdoor-living, rodent-killing machine. Not sure about the OP.  

I have too many indoor kittehs.

[Grappa]

I love cats, have two.  If you want to adopt a cat, or let it adopt you, that's cool.  But if you feed a stray that isn't fixed, then the stray will quickly make more strays to feed.  So IMO, catch it, fix it, release it back and continue to feed it. 

[sugarcrook]

I agree with that.  Also get the animal a full set of shots.  When I lived in Chicago, I could get the whole "starter kit" for about $35/cat from a subsidized service.  However, that experience was very traumatic for my cats and I'd pay full price if I had to do it again. 

[Punx Clever]

Catch him just like any other small critter:



A raccoon trap!  Added benefit of possibly catching a raccoon.

[Bick]

Maybe call your local Chinese Resteraunt for advice on how to gain the cat's confidence.  Is your ultimate goal to stir fry? 

Dude...  That's just...

[lethe]

Dude...  That's just...

potentially tasty, like mini-veal 

[Oldfisti]

potentially tasty, like mini-veal 

You guys are disgusting.


And that's why I love this place so much!!

[fastwin]

Catch him just like any other small critter:



A raccoon trap!  Added benefit of possibly catching a raccoon.

I was thinking about a Have-A-Heart trap like that.

But I also agree with others. I wouldn't trap it. What for? My wife's best friend is a huge cat person (I'm not... they remind me of my ex-wife ) and has several indoor cats. When she and her hubby bought their house it came with a feral cat. The previous owners put out food and water for it and my wife's friend has continued the tradition. It just adopted that house regardless of who lives there. After five years of trying to pet it she still never has. No one has ever gotten close enough to touch it. Even though it sort of trusts them and will let them get close and roll on the ground and meow at them like it's all friendly and wants to be petted. But oh no, ain't gonna happen. They're just weird that way. The cat the OP talked about may be the same way.

[Speedbag]

^ Kind of what I hope for, really.

A small feline version of me. 

[Howie]

Many years ago we adopted two 8 month old cats, a brother and sister.  The boy tamed rather easily, the girl never let us pet her or pick her up even though she lost fear of us.  The vet said females are much more difficult.

Anyway, back to Checkers.  Unless you plan on taking the cat in as a pet I would do little to tame it.  Street cats should fear humans, there are some sick ones out there.