Brilliant idea!

[TCRanch]

For those of you with barn cats/kittens, ever have one crawl up in the undercarriage or engine of a truck, tractor, etc. and not know how to get it out? Had a "situation" this week:

Hooked up the stock trailer earlier this week to take the culls to the sale barn and left the truck/trailer down at the barnyard overnight to load & hall the next morning. Later the next day (at the house), I kept hearing a kitten cry, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. A friend of mine was visiting and she googled "kittens crying", turned up the volume, played a video of kittens crying, and set her phone near the truck. I'll be damned if the kitten didn't respond to the video and we were able to figure out where it was - waaay down in the engine. Brilliant! I shimmied under the truck and could barely reach it, but eventually got it out. Except it went full-out Gladiator and scratched & bit the ever lovin' snot outta me and I chucked it in the woods. And proceeded to stem the flow of blood with practically an entire box of Band Aids. Those claws & teeth are like frickin' razor blades!!! (Note to self: next time wear gloves and possibly full armor) Anyway, figured it would either make its way back to the barn, hook up with the garage cats or perish in the woods, but at least we wouldn't have a rotting kitten in the engine.

Nope! Next morning it was back in the engine. What to do? Drove the truck back down to the barnyard. Played the "kittens crying" video again. I could hear the kittens pitiful meow - and so did its mama. It worked and they are now reunited! Who knew?

 

[greybeard]

It has been my experience, that most of the time they find their way out just fine somewhere along the spherical axis of the fan/alternator belts...as soon as the engine starter is engaged.

 

[Dave]

Last winter I started up the feed truck. It sat there idling for a while. Then for some reason I shut it down and went in the house. Came back a while later and started it up. A bunch of noise under the hood and out shot Clyde the cat. He must have crawled up there because the engine was warm. He was fine but wouldn't let me get near him for a week.

 

[Shoestring]

It doesn't always end pretty . Mine ended with - thunk, thunk, weak 'rrraaarrr'. Who knew. We didn't have cats.

 

[UnshodFilly]

I carried a kitten (I didn't know it was there) under my side by side down to a neighbors. Kitten was feral and unfortunatly I was not to see it again once it hopped out from under the side by side. Just saw it leap down to the ground and it was gone! Felt bad for it but at least it was old enough to survive on it's own.

 

[Rafter S]

We had something similar a few years ago. My wife had been to town, and when she got home she could hear a kitten under or in the car. I looked all around under it and couldn't see it, or see where it could be hiding. After a day or two my wife found a youtube video of a mother cat calling to her kittens, and played it near the car. The kitten came crawling out.

 

[SBMF 2015]

I chucked it in the woods.

Lov it!

 

[Allenw]

Carried a litter in a square hay baler about thirty miles round trip plus baleing time once. Momma cat was setting and waiting on them when I got back.

 

[TCRanch]

Lov it!

Okay, in my defense, I was still sportin' bandages from when I punched the heifer & split open my knuckle. I have a high tolerance for pain, but those little razor teeth & claws surpassed my threshold.

 

[D2Cat]

You need a pair of welding gloves, small woman size. Then you have some protection to your elbows.

 

[Rafter S]

Carried a litter in a square hay baler about thirty miles round trip plus baleing time once. Momma cat was setting and waiting on them when I got back.

When I was a kid a cat either had a litter of kittens under the toolbox in the back of a friend's father's truck or had them somewhere else and moved them there, and then apparently got scared and jumped out when he was on the road. He didn't know the kittens were there until they started to smell.

 

[TCRanch]

Last year, we took the small stock trailer into the pasture to catch a cow/calf pair. Opened the back door and there was a terrified kitten. So, she took a ride with the pair, and when we parked the trailer back at the barnyard, mama jetted out of the chicken house, jumped inside the trailer & retrieved her baby. Haven't seen any in there since, so she evidently figured out it wasn't the safest place to hide or have her litter. (Although the residual hay made great bedding)

 

[Allenw]

Then there was the chicken that would get up under my truck and take a ride. They will go to hiding when you chase them into a gourd patch and be easier to catch.