A green heron was among the seventy-seven animals admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida this past week. Other admissions include a little blue heron, a barred owl, a sooty tern, a fox squirrel and two Florida softshell turtle hatchlings.
Green Heron Encounters Sticky Adhesive Trap
A homeowner on Marco Island hired a nuisance wildlife trapper because he was having a problem with iguanas. The trapper recommended and placed a sticky glue trap on the seawall where the iguanas had been seen. Instead, a green heron ended up caught on the sticky adhesive trap.
The homeowner found the bird, removed it from the glue trap and tried to give it a bath prior to bringing it to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital. The green heron arrived in serious condition. Its feathers were distraught from the sticky adhesive and the bath liquid the homeowner used to try and clean the bird.
Green herons are a high stressed bird under normal circumstances. Being handled while in the bath and the strain of trying to free itself for the glue trap, the bird’s condition was significantly compromised. Staff placed the green heron in a dark animal intensive care unit on oxygen to allow the bird time to calm down. A short time later, sedatives were administered so the heron could calm down while staff bathed the bird. Staff minimized the time cleaning the bird to ensure they did not end up over stressing the heron.
Staff knew multiple baths were required to fully remove all the glue.
Later that evening, a check on the heron showed the heron’s feathers were dry and he was walking around the intensive care unit. Staff offered a fish diet and left the heron to rest overnight.
The following morning, the heron was vocal, perching and had eaten some of the fish diet. There was glue stuck to the heron’s beak indicating the heron had been preening. Staff added an antibiotic, an antifungal, and Chinese herbs to the heron’s treatment plan.
Baths were spaced out over the course of four days. The heron continued to eat and slowly started improving.
It was a sudden shock when our hospital staff went to provide treatment on the fifth day and found the heron had passed away. The concern was a type of toxic found in the glue, but correspondence with the manufacturer has yet to provide us any answers.
Pest Control Methods
Glue board traps as a pest control method is inhumane.
Not only do glue board traps cause immense suffering often resulting in death, non-target species such as birds, snakes, lizards and a variety of small mammals are frequent victims. The injuries we have seen animals endure after being stuck to glue board traps are heartbreaking. Many times, animals struggle so violently in the futile effort to free themselves from the glue that they tear their skin, legs or wings from their body. If glue traps go unchecked, an animal stuck to the trap slowly dies from stress, starvation and/or dehydration. No living creature deserves that type of cruel painful death.
As consumers, it is our responsibility to fully understand the pest control methods that may be used when hiring a service. The only way companies will stop using inhumane pest control methods is to have clients stop hiring them. If you have a nuisance wildlife situation, please call the staff at the von Arx Wildlife Hospital. In most situations, staff can offer solutions that aren’t lethal and address the core of the problem.
Recent Releases
Five northern mockingbirds, a broad-winged hawk, a black-and-white warbler, a prothonotary warbler, two striped mud turtles, three hispid cotton rats, two gopher tortoises, a Florida softshell turtle, a marsh rabbit, two white ibises, a common grackle and two mourning doves were released this past week.
Opportunities to Help
Please check the Conservancy website to view all of the amazing volunteer opportunities at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. Your volunteer time, donations, and memberships are vital in helping us continue our work to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land, wildlife and future. Support from the community enables the von Arx Wildlife Hospital to continue to help injured, sick and orphaned wildlife.
Joanna Fitzgerald is the Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 1495 Smith Preserve Way, Naples, Florida 34102. Call 239-262-2273 or see conservancy.org.