I own five acres. We have a leash law here in the North Star borough, pertaining to dogs and cats. I set traps out in my back yard to catch coyotes, foxes, and an occasional Lynx. Every year I catch two or three dogs. They are the happiest animals to see me when I head out that way. Even the meanest Pitbull Boxer mix in the neighborhood was very docile when he met me. It's like they know I'm the only one can let them out of that trap. But a house cat, that's a differant story. They will eat you alive before you can do anything to let them out. Therefore I wait till the next day when rigormortis makes them gentle.
When my son was five, a lady who lives down the street came over looking for her cat. I happened to know another trapper in the neighborhood had caught her cat in a trap under his bird feeder. But this lady chose to ask my son, having heard the rumor that I set out traps. My five year old did not have a clue as to what had happened, but having recently been in New Mexico where our friends had cats killed and eaten by coyotes. Sky looker her right in the eye and said "Coyotes must have got em, they kill and eat cats you know." "We got coyotes and wolves here, and they both kill cats and eat them." The way this little guy stressed "they eat them" she must have felt weak, she left in a big hurry, and never came back. They moved a couple of years later without getting a replacement cat.
