# House Wren Stuck On Glue Trap



## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Though I successfully got this little one off the trap and cleaned up last night, the little thing didn't make the night:

http://www.rims.net/2006Apr18-2

All the white powder you see is cornstarch that the animal control officer used to try and get the bird free .. didn't work. I used Detachol and gently ran a small amount of it under the spots where the bird was stuck using a cotton swab, and it worked very well.

Terry


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm so sorry to hear the little house wren didn't make it, especially with all your hard work and success to get it off the glue trap.

But you DID find the antidote to the glue, which will be of great help in rescue off of these traps....you set a precidant!


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## dnrslucky1 (Oct 13, 2005)

Wow! That is sad!

I had a Cockatiel get stuck in one of those sticky fly strips once! Had to tear out alot of its feathers to get the strip off! It lived but half its body was featherless! I cried the whole time as I pulled it feathers out! But as it struggled, it was wrapping itself in that dang tape more and more! I had to decide fast on what to do!

Denise


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## Pidgey (May 20, 2005)

Well, it's always hard in a pinch to deal with something like that. I'd probably have spread a handful of dirt or sand on to take care of all the other stickiness and then have scissored away all the unoffending crap. After that, I'd probably shave off the feathers (from the paper, not the bird) as best as possible. Hummingbirds really need a lot of that sugar, though, or their systems can really run down--they're just not made with any reserves to speak of.

Pidgey


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## Maggie-NC (Jun 22, 2005)

I have mentioned before that people (if you can call them that) who put out these glue traps don't think, or maybe even care that for any small bird, particularly the size of a hummer, it is a virtual death trap. Like Pidgey said, their reserves are limited. It is so sad that a wee little thing like this hummer had to die needlessly.

At best, a hummer is extremely difficult to rehab and being caught in something like this trap just saps their strength trying to get free.

Terry, this is good information on how you were able to free him.


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## JGregg (Jul 28, 2003)

*hummingbirds and wrens*

I'm so sorry that the little one didn't make it. You've got a good method for glue trap removal. But, you've got a wren (most likely a house wren) not a hummingbird.

Link to a house wren picture.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7210id.html

Link to an anna's hummingbird picture.
http://www.hummingbirds.net/annas.html


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

You're quite right J! Thank you for pointing this out. I just took the word of the animal control officer .. should have known better and looked it up myself. I'll fix the captions on the photos and also the hummingbird references in this thread later today .. gotta run to get to the vet right now.

Terry


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## TerriB (Nov 16, 2003)

Pidgey said:


> ...I'd probably have spread a handful of dirt or sand on to take care of all the other stickiness...
> Pidgey


Good suggestion. A powder like that cornstarch might be inhaled by the panicky bird and cause respiratory problems in addition to the horrible stress of being trapped like that.


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