getting stray kittens to come to me

Question
I live in an apartment building that has several stray cats wondering around.I hear cat fights all the time. I've been feeding this one female that is usually the one getting beat up. Several months ago she had kittens, all died but one. Eventually she brought the kitten to me and I slowly got its trust and ended up bring it into my house with my 6 year old female cat. Well now, the outside cat has had another litter of kittens, 4 of them. They were born around the middle of Sept. so they arent very old. I want to try to catch them so I can take them to an adoption agency but they run anytime I go outside. I know that I can eventually get them but they'll be too old for the adoption agency to want. I also know that the longer they are out there, the greater the chance of them not making it is. If I don't catch them I'll have so many cats to deal with b/c I know its only a matter of time before the kittens have kittens. I also want to try to catch the mom to get her fixed. She is ferral and its going to be a challenge. Do you have any advise on how I can get the kittens earlier before they get to big. I want them to all get a nice home and I know it will only really happen if I get them asap.I've heard about the traps but I don't know if I can get all 4 of them like that. I don't want to do something that will make them never come to me. If you could help I'd so appreciate it...

Answer
Hi Melissa,

Its great that you've taken it on yourself to take care of these feral cats.  If the kittens were born in the middle of September that would make them about 8 weeks old and, believe it or not, may already be too feral to make pets. Kittens imprint on their parents at a very early age and often if they haven't been taken from the mom by 5 or 6 weeks old they may not be able to be tamed.  There also appears to be a genetic component and kittens may be "programmed" to be feral if the parents (especially the father) is.  The thing with feral cats and kittens is that you might get them to tame down for you but when you send them to a new home with someone they don't know they revert right back to their feral behavior.  I have two very nice feral boys who are friendly to me but scared to death of everyone else.  And even I can't pick them up.
Check the web for local TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) groups that could help you trap them and get them all fixed (kittens can be fixed as young as 8 weeks old).  These groups can also evaluate the kittens to see if they can be placed in good homes.  If you can't find a group you can rent "humane" traps from your local shelter and get them all fixed yourself.  That can get expensive unless you can find a vet who will do feral cats at a discount (check with your local vets, many of them deal with TNR and cat rescue groups all the time and are an excellent resource).
The cat fights should stop once the cats and kittens are fixed and you can get some sleep--knowing that you've done a great service to them.