A great horned owl found itself in a seriously sticky situation after becoming stuck in a glue trap in Orange County, rendering it both flightless and food-less.
Fortunately, a Good Samaritan found the bird and brought it to a local wildlife center in Huntington Beach. Unfortunately, the person used scissors to cut the birds’ wings out of the tacky material intended to trap rodents and pests.
“The person was thinking they were doing the right thing by cutting most of the feathers to get the owl unstuck from the trap,” said Debbie McGuire, executive director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center. “But that seriously set back the bird’s rehabilitation because now it has to go through a complete molt to be able to grow those feathers back.”
Bird feathers, unlike hair, do not keep growing if cut. Most owls undergo a complete molt once a year, shedding their feathers and growing new ones. However, larger species such as great horned owls tend to molt slower, and can take two or more years to replace all their feathers.
In a best-case scenario, the injured bird will regrow enough feathers to fly and return to the wild within a year. But there is a chance it could take longer to heal, in which case the raptor’s stint in captivity may be too long for it to successfully reintegrate into nature.
“If that’s true, he might never be released and may become an educational ambassador to teach all of us how not to use glue traps,” McGuire said.
The bird was brought to the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach on July 23, where staff used vegetable oil and solvents to gradually and gently remove the remaining glue. The bird was washed, fed and given water before being transported to the Orange County Bird of Prey Center, where it will begin its rehabilitation journey.
The center hopes that the bird’s ordeal serves as a warning about the dangers of glue traps — which are banned in nations such as England, Iceland and New Zealand, as well as in the cities of West Hollywood and Ojai.
“We are begging the public not to use glue traps because it traps lots of other wildlife besides the intended pests,” said Elizabeth Woods, the veterinarian who treated the bird, in a public service announcement on the center’s social media accounts. “Even for those pests it’s a terrible way to die.”
McGuire said that the center get calls to rescue animals from glue traps at least once a month — which is “way too often.” Oftentimes, birds will see a snake or rodent caught in the trap, land there to try and eat it, and become trapped themselves.
In addition the the great horned owl, the center has recently rescued orioles and barn owls from similar traps.
In January 2024, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) introduced a bill to place a national ban on the “ruthless and inhumane” use of glue traps to catch rodents. However, the proposed legislation failed to progress beyond the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology.
Should members of the public encounter birds stuck in glue traps, McGuire said it’s important that they do not try to cut or rip their feathers to free them. The best course of action is to wrap the bird and the trap in a towel and bring it to an animal rescue center.
Last year, the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center rehabilitated around 8,600 injured or sick animals. McGuire said that people who live outside of Orange County are always welcome to call the organization, which can advise them on a local treatment center in their area.
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