Which knot?

I need to capture a half-feral cat with a serious medical problem. I have a large wire cage that's not designed to be used as a trap. If I tie string/ rope to the open door, pass it through the wire cage and run it along the g round, it would be possible to wait and pull the string once the cat enters . This won't work unless the door closes and at the same time a knot ties i t shut. The knot needn't hold long, 10 seconds against a large strong cat s hould do the job. Question is, what knot should I use?

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr
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Rather than trying to catch it yourself, IMO you should contact the RSPCA in your area. They have lots of experience at doing that sort of thing.

Reply to
Chris Hogg

What's wrong with the following?

  1. Peg the cage to the ground, so it can't move.

  1. Pull the door shut with the string, and then tie the string off, whilst keeping it taut. Any old knot will do. Or screw a cleat to something sturdy and wrap the string round that a few times.

  2. Stroll outside and latch the cage door.

BTW, does Tabbypurr = TNP?

Reply to
GB

In fact, they may well lend you a trap.

They did to help us trap a feral cat which was hanging around our place.

Obviously not fully DIY, but......

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Don't be more stupid than you have to be.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

He might have more experience of looking after poorly animals than the RSPCA for all you know.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Wright

You could use a slip knot and take the loop round the door edge and frame. Still not secure but you have doubled your mechanical advantage:-)

Reply to
Tim Lamb

ve a large wire cage that's not designed to be used as a trap. If I tie str ing/rope to the open door, pass it through the wire cage and run it along t he ground, it would be possible to wait and pull the string once the cat en ters.. This won't work unless the door closes and at the same time a knot t ies it shut. The knot needn't hold long, 10 seconds against a large strong cat should do the job. Question is, what knot should I use?

That's never going to work. I'll have to sit near-ish the cage waiting. By the time I've got a knot tied he'll long be gone, he's very strong. The pla n is to hold the string and get to the cage as fast as poss to secure it be tter. It has to be strong enough to hold it for 10 secs or so.

No. Tabbypurr=NT not TNP.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Now that may be useful, thank you, though I can see troubles resulting. Will talk to them.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

not a hope. This one's like a tiger.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

a large wire cage that's not designed to be used as a trap. If I tie strin g/rope to the open door, pass it through the wire cage and run it along the ground, it would be possible to wait and pull the string once the cat ente rs. This won't work unless the door closes and at the same time a knot ties it shut. The knot needn't hold long, 10 seconds against a large strong cat should do the job. Question is, what knot should I use?

Make a sliding noose which includes the door open edge and the adjacent fra me, so that when the free end is pulled, the door shuts. Then lead the free end up and over a pulley or wheel above the cage (this pulley or wheel cou ld be mounted on a temporary structure, such as a step-ladder), wait for th e cat to enter the cage, then pull the free end until the cage is lifted in the air, where the weight of the cage and contents will keep the noose tig ht and the door shut.

Reply to
stvlcnc43

I assume the cage is rectangular, and the door hinges at the side or top.

Make a stout loop of rope which will just go, not tightly, round the closed cage, horizontally. Put it round the empty cage; at the back corners, tie it to the top of the cage with medium string; at the front, put it over the open door.

Put a kipper in the cage, leave the door open holding up the rope. When the cat enters, pull the door closed; the rope will slip down and hold it shut.

You could automate this by tying a string to the kipper and running it via a pseudo-pulley at the back of the cage to the door. Cat runs in, grabs the kipper, turns round to run out, slams door in its own face, rope slips down.

Reply to
dr.s.lartius

You need to arrange that as the door closes something else locks it - a piece of bent garden wire or length of metal would be my choice.

You will only get one chance since the cat won't be stupid enough to enter the cage a second time if you fail.

Reply to
Martin Brown

A caged feral cat is going to be quite pissed-off, will there be video?

Reply to
Andy Burns

Surely, I'm exactly as stupid as I am? Neither more, nor less, is possible.

Reply to
GB

There speaks a true Leftist

People are born victims and cannot in anyway make their lot in life better. Only a left wing government or the EU can.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I'll take your word for it, but it's not obvious why it won't work. Provided the string is strong enough and everything is anchored down.

Maybe you should have two strings? One to pull the door closed and the other to manoeuvre a bit of wood to keep the door latched or simply a really heavy lump of wood that leans against the door when toppled over by the second string.

Reply to
GB

Yes. I expect it will bounce off the walls quite nicely.

I hope he has a vets tranquilliser dart gun.

Reply to
Martin Brown

We gave the cat to the RSPCA to re-home (part of the deal; they neuter them as well if not already done) but it turned out to be so ill (feline AIDS and cancer IIRC) that they had to put it down. We didn't know until we turned up with a pack of cat food as a "thank you".

The way we did it was to leave the cage open and un-primed for a couple of nights before priming it to close. More chance of the preliminary risk assessment by the cat classifying it as safe.

Unless the cat is a very frequent visitor which is also used to your presence, crouching near the cage holding a piece of string might be a long and painful experience.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

I think something is missed there. For the cat to enter, people need to sta y a fair distance away. That means the string would have to hold against a strong and very frightened semiferal cat, despite being pulled from a long way away. I don't see that working.

of course.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

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