Dry cat food works the best for me.
Me too. I put it in a small can like tuna or wet cat food comes in.
I agree with the advice about staking down the trap and also put it against a wall with a heavy bucket on the other side if it is on a concrete floor. The trap that I have the best results with is a Tru-Catch. They are really heavy duty and have a pretty much foolproof release system. .
