Francis, Frances or Cisco? It's yet to be determined.

In my previous post I mentioned a little black kitty that my husband and I were trying to catch.  We spent about 10 days trying to catch him or her.  We would go over to the woods sometimes twice a day and sit for 90 - 120 minutes at a time with various traps and enticements.

We first spotted him on a slow drive by looking for raccoons or other creatures.  When we spotted him he was eating someone's left over picnic trash.

Here is one of our first traps.  Just a kittie carrier with goodies inside. The first time I "almost" had him I was close enough just to slam the door once he got inside.  However, my BIG feet got to the carrier before my hand did, and I ended up kicking the carrier and the kitty just darted away!  Drats!

Later on we added a cord to the door so we could sit further away so he would feel safe to approach.  One time he got inside but when my husband pulled on the cord, the door just bounced off the carrier and flew back open...and the kitty darted away again.

After each failed attempt we always left a little food behind so he would have something to eat until we returned.  Sometimes he would come out to eat other times not...maybe the raccoons got it then.

At one point, I found kitty sitting under this huge pile of tree debris.  At least it looked like it would keep him warm and dry at night.

 One evening while I was laying in watch by myself.  Kitty was around but so was a raccoon.  Kitty didn't know which one of us to stay away from most.  I kept scaring the raccoon away and at one point I found him above my head in a tree!  Needless to say, I didn't stand under that tree for long.  I had no idea what his plans were.

My husband has the patience of Job.  I'm more like Barney Fife!  I just couldn't stand the waiting around any more and missing him every time we tried to catch him.  So I decided to go and buy a Havahart Live Trap for Animals.  The first time I tried, I couldn't see the kitty anywhere, but I was visited by my friend the raccoon.  He wanted to get into my trap for the goodies.  I kept scaring him off but unfortunately, he kept coming back!  So I packed up my stuff and went home defeated once again.

On Saturday, September 17, 2011 my husband set off ahead of me to set our trap again.  I stayed behind to make his lunch (he had to go to work in about an hour and I wanted to make sure his lunch was ready).  I followed within a few minutes after he left and drove over to our spot.  He was already packing up and ready to leave.  He claimed the kitty had sprung the trap but ran off before the trap closed.  He then opened up the back of the car and showed that he had actually caught him!!!

We are keeping him/her isolated in a separate room away from the rest of our pets until the vet can check him/her out.  We will give him/her a couple of days to acclimate before we go to the vet. When I peeked in at him a little while ago he was all curled up in his makeshift litter box.  How sweet!

 During my quest to capture kitty I kept praying to St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals.  His feast day is coming up and that's why I am naming kitty Francis or Frances.