Our mission is to rescue , rehabilitate and rehome neglected, homeless or abused dogs,cats & exotics
04/09/2025
This male Northern Cardinal was yet another victim of a glue trap.
Unfortunately, this bird was on the trap for quite some time before coming into care. Despite being removed with sedation and being placed in an ICU enclosure with supplemental oxygen to recover, he passed away overnight.
Glue traps do NOT discriminate! While many people put down glue traps for insects and rodents, we find that they catch those species and MUCH more, including birds like this cardinal, bats, lizards, snakes, and even larger animals like raccoons and owls!
These traps do not "magically" get rid of any nuisance wildlife that you may want out of your home or yard, but instead slowly kill them over hours or days, typically causing death through dehydration or capture myopathey as the animals suffer ripped out feathers, torn skin and scales, and broken bones in an attempt to free themselves.
In the case of this cardinal, we suspect the amount of effort expended and stress endured in attempts to escape caused exertional rhabdomyolysis, a.k.a. capture myopathy. The extreme muscular exertion in these life or death situations causes breakdown of the muscle fibers and release of potassium and myoglobin, which often has deadly consequences. This is not a pleasant way to die for intended nor unintended targets.
YOU can help prevent this by 1. not buying glue traps, 2. educating others to avoid glue traps by sharing posts like this 3. reaching out to your representatives in Congress and encouraging them to reintroduce and support the Glue Trap Prohibition Act, which would prohibit the sale of glue traps.
Glue traps do NOT stop nuisance wildlife from entering your home - they're a band-aid solution that leaves you reliant on buying more of them since it doesn't solve the actual problem (that your home is not secure). Sealing up entryways and keeping food stored in sealed containers, plus utilizing humane exclusion techniques, are all LONG term solutions that prevent nuisance wildlife from entering in the future, ultimately saving you time and money.
