I think the cat may be friendly. Should I try to pet him while he’s in the trap?
Do NOT put your finger into a trap to try and pet a cat. It is best to leave them alone and not risk personal injury or undo stress on the cat by trying to pet him. Remember that there are passive ferals and aggressive ferals. Even if the trapped cat is not lunging he may still be feral, behaving in a passive manner, crouching and immobile out of fear of humans. Also, a feral may crouch immobile at one point, and lunge at another point. If they feel cornered, or threatened they may try and defend themselves by attacking you because they cannot flee. This does not mean that humans should feel afraid of feral cats outdoors. Feral cats avoid humans just like other wild animals.
An easy temperament test is to poke a wooden chopstick or plastic straw through the holes of the trap towards the cat. A domesticated cat will usually try to smell the object. A passive feral will ignore it and even act like he does not see it. An aggressive feral will lunge towards it. Do not use the same object for different cats as it may spread viruses from cat to cat.
It is best not to make a decision about the cat’s temperament while they are in the trap. Their behavior may be drastically different in the trap than in an environment where they feel safe and are not stressed out.