Wild kittens! I need Help!!!

Question
Hi Norman, I really hope you can help me out, I live in a wooded area here in California, and about 3 days ago, I looked out my bedroom window and saw wild baby kittens, there are 4 of them and a Mom, 2 of them look terribly skinny and I was worried about their health so I wanted to try and catch them so I can get them medical help and at least give them a good home. They will not go near me, so I've been trying to lure them in with food, the first day I sat out with some lunch meat but they are so scared and wouldn't come near me, so I left the meat our there, and the devoured it in seconds. Second day I sat out with a bowl of tuna (for like 3 hours =) and sat very still they came out and ate out of the bowl, but when I went to pet them, they freaked out and ran away, yesterday I left a bowl of wet food out, and once again after I left it and went in the house not even 2 minutes later the food was gone, and as soon as I step outside they all ran away. So last night I left a bowl of dry food out, and this morning I receive a dead bird on my porch, lol. I know that's a way of saying Thank You, but why won't the let me pet them? Any suggestions how to get them warmed up to me? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Answer
Kimberly,

Feral cats are usually very wary of humans (and for good reason as many are not as nice and thoughtful as you are).  Feral cats can be socialized to some extent.  The best source of how to capture feral cats is Peninsula Humane Society (which is in the bay area, I believe).  They use haveaheart live traps, have the cats vaccinated, tested, treated for any veterinary problems, neutered or spayed, and then released back into the population.  See:

http://www.peninsulahumanesociety.org/services/

http://www.fanciers.com/npa/ttvar.html

If you do capture the mother and/or the kittens, there is a link on socializing feral cats (it was written for Abyssinians, but works on any feral cats):

http://www.abyssinian-rescue.com/advice.htm

However, by feeding them and being there passively, you can make a lot of headway.  Read the article I linked to you.  If any of them look at you, blink at them.  In time one or more may respond.

I hope some of this will be helpful.

Best regards... Norm.