From Wildlife Care Association of Sacramento
A successful recovery for this barn owl! ❤️
This barn owl came to us stuck in a glue trap…exhausted, terrified, and covered in adhesive that matted his feathers and made it impossible to fly or stay warm. Glue traps are marketed as an easy fix, but they are indiscriminate and incredibly inhumane. Animals don’t die quickly. They struggle for hours, sometimes days. Birds especially will thrash in panic trying to escape, often breaking wings or legs in the process.
This owl required multiple careful baths to remove the glue without damaging his delicate feather structure. Feathers aren’t just for flight, they provide insulation and the silent movement owls rely on to hunt. Once he was clean, dry, and strong, we flight tested him to be sure he could maneuver and land safely.
We released him back in the exact area where he was found. Why? Because owls have established territories and potentially mates. Releasing him elsewhere could mean displacing him from a partner or a hunting ground he knows well. Returning wildlife home gives them the best possible chance at survival.
His story had a good ending. Many don’t.
Please reconsider using glue traps. Small choices can prevent immense suffering.
The baths. The feather care. The monitoring. The flight testing. It’s the tiny, meticulous work behind the scenes that makes moments like this possible and that’s what our fundraiser Love Is in the Details is all about.
Because love is in the details and today, that love flies free. ❤️
Totally stuck 😡
Safety and dignity restored! ❤️🦉
Flight check
Feet pretty cleaned up
Tail feathers cleaned
Sad face 😔
Flight feathers separated
Poor little guy
I know! It looks near totally stuck head to toe. 🫣
That must have been so much work getting it out without messing up any feathers. If they get damaged, it needs to be cared for until they regrow, which would have likely been nearly the whole year.
I only shared this one since it worked out so fortunately for the little one, but people need to see these things aren’t safe for animals and are just downright cruel.
I don’t even understand why you would put a glue trap outside?? I’m glad the owl was able to get rescued from that
Perhaps it was thrown out or a partially stuck rodent dragged it out of a building and the owl spotted an “easy meal.” That’s how they end up eating the poisoned rodents as well. They die outdoors or are weak enough but not dead yet, so they are easing picking for the owls or other predators. They think it is their lucky day, but it’s quite the opposite.
If you are going to end and animal, it should be immediate and targeted, or you are just being reckless. We just got a baby red fox in at work, not even old enough to have its eyes open, because some genius was trying to kill a groundhog and stuck a trap down the wrong hole and killed its mom. It gets tough watching all the idiotic things people do to animals.
I agree, but for mice, bucket traps are really the best option, you don’t have to reload them, set it and forget it. You can reduce the canage by laying cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil everywhere the mice are, they will pack up and leave your house if they can’t get away from the smell. Except a few hold outs.
If the bucket dropped them into a dry bottom, they can jump out. Maybe if you could put just some water in there so they couldn’t jump out you could relocate them if you wished.
I’m glad you’re going with prevention as the first step. Blocking their access and discouraging them hanging around by blocking entrances and removing food sources is the best thing we can do.
Relocating mice yourself isn’t really a much better option than the glue trap, since they don’t know where to find food/shelter wherever they get dumped off at and will meet much the same fate. They have a really low survival rate when they’re transported.
At least what you’re doing with the bucket is pretty efficient, and I’m assuming indoors, limiting any unintended catches. I won’t guilt people for using kill traps, since it’s better than a lot of other options if deterrence isn’t successful. We can’t really be sharing living space with wild rodents, but like most things, reduction should always be the first step.
Oh jeez
Glue traps are cruel. We can’t have mice in our houses, I hate using bucket traps, but a quicker drowning is better than that. First I soak cotton balls in peppermint oil and throw them where the mice are, most pack up and leave, they hate it, the bucket traps kill the hold outs.
Any effort at reduction of harm is appreciated!
Happy to hear it all worked in the end and thanks for the info about glue traps.
Of course! I hate having to talk about stuff like this, but it’s something a lot of people don’t consider until they’ve already entrapped the wrong thing. We get snakes, frogs, birds, etc all caught in these things, and it’s not even humane for the rodents. When they’re stuck, they die of exhaustion, dehydration, or injuries from trying to escape. No animal deserves that.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. If the owl could talk they’d say it too.
This wasn’t where I’m at, I just shared this story.
There are so many great wildlife rescues out there full of amazing and loving people. I am thrilled to be just a tiny part of the network of helpers.
