Yeah, I agree with the above poster. Be patient.
Last year, I was working on a project in western Maryland. We were out in the woods all day, every day. One morning, we got to the parking area and this little kitten came running out of the woods as if to say, "Finally! I've been waiting for you! Where are we going?"
The poor little guy was really, really thin, but otherwise seemed healthy enough. We fed him some tuna fish from someone's lunch and he followed us for the whole day, 8 hours of hiking and digging over about 5 miles of forest.
By the end of the day, we were all so in love with him, we had decided to rescue him. We contacted a no-kill shelter (all of us have reached or surpassed our pet capacity), which agreed to take him.
Well, we got back to the car and he started meowing loudly - then, an aswering meow came from the edge of the woods, and we saw another kitten. She was very, very wary of us and wouldn't come out. Her brother was totally ready to hop in the car with us, but we couldn't leave his little sister. We broke out the tuna fish and sat quietly, as still as possible, in the middle of the parking lot, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, after about an hour or so, she had approached and eaten a little food. She took a little water from a mason jar lid. She kept running back into the trees. So we waited some more.
It took us almost two hours, but finally, she came close enough for one of us to grab her and get her in the car. We searched the area for more kittens, but didn't find any. We took the kittens back to our hotel and one of my coworkers took the two kitties to the refuge the next day. About two months later, they were adopted together and now have a loving home.
I guess the point of my (long) story is, be patient, give them time to get used to you, set out humane traps and see what you can do. If you can catch a kitten by the scruff, it's worth that minor wound to their dignity to get them somewhere safe. Don't give up! And try not to get too frustrated. You're doing great and you're also doing all you can. It's more than most people do.
Last year, I was working on a project in western Maryland. We were out in the woods all day, every day. One morning, we got to the parking area and this little kitten came running out of the woods as if to say, "Finally! I've been waiting for you! Where are we going?"
The poor little guy was really, really thin, but otherwise seemed healthy enough. We fed him some tuna fish from someone's lunch and he followed us for the whole day, 8 hours of hiking and digging over about 5 miles of forest.
By the end of the day, we were all so in love with him, we had decided to rescue him. We contacted a no-kill shelter (all of us have reached or surpassed our pet capacity), which agreed to take him.
Well, we got back to the car and he started meowing loudly - then, an aswering meow came from the edge of the woods, and we saw another kitten. She was very, very wary of us and wouldn't come out. Her brother was totally ready to hop in the car with us, but we couldn't leave his little sister. We broke out the tuna fish and sat quietly, as still as possible, in the middle of the parking lot, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, after about an hour or so, she had approached and eaten a little food. She took a little water from a mason jar lid. She kept running back into the trees. So we waited some more.
It took us almost two hours, but finally, she came close enough for one of us to grab her and get her in the car. We searched the area for more kittens, but didn't find any. We took the kittens back to our hotel and one of my coworkers took the two kitties to the refuge the next day. About two months later, they were adopted together and now have a loving home.
I guess the point of my (long) story is, be patient, give them time to get used to you, set out humane traps and see what you can do. If you can catch a kitten by the scruff, it's worth that minor wound to their dignity to get them somewhere safe. Don't give up! And try not to get too frustrated. You're doing great and you're also doing all you can. It's more than most people do.