From WildCare
A glue trap almost robbed this Great Horned Owl of his ability to fly.
On October 4th, only 16 minutes after our Wildlife Hospital opened its doors for the day, we began our initial exam on this heartbreaking intake.
His feathers were in an alarming state: pieces of the glue trap were stuck to his abdomen, tail, and right wing, leaving them sticky, matted, and bent. Once Medical Staff ensured he was stable, they immediately set to work on the delicate process of freeing him.
While glue traps are non-toxic, they are incredibly cruel. Animals caught in the adhesive don’t die instantly. Instead, they face days of slow suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and starvation. We are profoundly grateful to the caring neighbor who stepped in to rescue him before it was too late.
Under gentle sedation, our team gave the owl a specialized bath, carefully washing away the sticky residue with animal-safe solutions. X-rays confirmed that despite swollen tissue and misshapen feathers, no bones were broken and all feathers were intact.
Over the next few days, the owl’s appetite, weight, and flight quality were closely monitored. Following one final cleaning session, his flight and body condition looked great, and he was deemed ready for release.
On October 9th, he flew free, back to the wild where he > belongs.
Please help us protect local wildlife by opting out of glue traps!
Can you just imagine how strange the concept of animal hospitals are for them?
O: “I was… I got caught in some kind of thick resin. It really messed up my feathers, I thought I’d never fly again.”
G: “So what happened?”
O: “I… I don’t know. I thought it was humans who put the resin - certain of it, even - when they threw a bag over me and took me somewhere. They held me down. I screamed, but nothing I could do against their strength.”
G: “You were a gonner…”
O: “I was a gonner… until they cleaned the resin off my wing. Put me in a loud tube. Then they fed me. Watched me fly around the compound. And then…”
G: “They just, let you go?”
O: “Yeah. Out there, somewhere, is a place that we can go to get fixed. By humans.”
G: “They’re not all bad I guess”I always picture it as if we were abducted by a non-humanoid alien.
We’d have no clue what they were doing, we’d be anxious to get away as soon as we could, and even if they were nice to use or cured our diseases, we probably still wouldn’t be in much of a hurry to come back and visit them after we got back home.
Some released animals do hang around, but our intent is to keep them wild, as being around humans is pretty much just keeping them more comfortable than they should be around hazards (cars, our pets, window glass, sports netting, poisons, etc).
yeah! Like I just got a severe anal probing aboard a UFO, was terrified and subdued the entire time, but then afterwards they put me back into bed, and I feel a great sense of physical wellness.
I’d tell others about it, and they’d pshaw me and say either UFO’s dont exist, or if they do exist, they don’t care about us
I guess it’s even stranger than it would be for us as well. We grow up in a world where, barring some really unfortunate circumstances, we will never have to worry about another animal eating us, or even intentionally hurting us. But for almost every wild animal, every intereaction, even after with another of your own kind, can easily turn violent or deadly. And them, wham, you get caught by a human, essentially a giant/ogre/titan. They’ve got zero reason whatsoever to think this encounter should go well for them!
wtf is a glue trap? What do you want to trap with glue? I never heard of this
They are trays of adhesive. Animals wander onto them, get stuck, and get further and further stuck until they are immobilized. They die of exposure, dehydration, starvation, or from injuries sustained by trying to free themselves. They are sold as products to catch rodents and snakes, but they also catch squirrels, kittens, bunnies, and raptors thinking they found an easy target.
It seems they are illegal in many parts of Europe, India, and Australia, but in America, one can buy them at any hardware store. They are not only indiscriminate about what they kill, but this seems like one of the most cruel ways to kill something.
They’re really horrifying. Someone in my dorm used one to catch a mouse, and then came to me when they found the creature crying and trying to tear its legs free. No idea what anyone with compassion would do at that point, practically. Another friend of theirs came and dealt with it somehow, I just felt sick.
Yeah, they sound easy to use until you have to face what they do. And if it doesn’t bother someone, that’s a red flag to me.
I‘m speechless
There is encouragement as more and more places are banking or putting stricter limits on things like this and poisons all around the world. As a whole, I think people are still becoming more compassionate, even towards “pests.”
Rescues can dissolve the glue, and as long as they haven’t been too injured in the process, they can be treated.
Please don’t anyone try to remove animals on your own. That can end just as badly, or greatly increase recovery time! I think I have a post somewhere where someone tried to cut an owl’s feathers to free it, but then it needed a year or so of care while it regrew those feathers instead of being released in a few days. 😔
I don’t know what the use case would be outside. I only know the gluetraps for flies that you use inside
They’re sold for rodents, snakes, spiders, scorpions, etc. but they will catch anything that happens to touch them, intended or not.
The principle is the same is the fly paper traps, but these are larger trays.
Now I know why that bird looks scared
For sure. They like to be the one doing the scaring around here!
