An ideal horned owl discovered itself in a significantly sticky scenario after changing into caught in a glue entice in Orange County, rendering it each flightless and food-less.
Luckily, a Good Samaritan discovered the chicken and introduced it to an area wildlife middle in Huntington Seaside. Sadly, the particular person used scissors to chop the birds’ wings out of the cheesy materials supposed to entice rodents and pests.
“The particular person was pondering they have been doing the correct factor by slicing many of the feathers to get the owl unstuck from the entice,” stated Debbie McGuire, govt director of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle. “However that significantly set again the chicken’s rehabilitation as a result of now it has to undergo an entire molt to have the ability to develop these feathers again.”
Chicken feathers, not like hair, don’t continue to grow if reduce. Most owls bear an entire molt annually, shedding their feathers and rising new ones. Nevertheless, bigger species reminiscent of nice horned owls are inclined to molt slower, and may take two or extra years to interchange all their feathers.
An owl that was caught in a glue entice was dropped at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle in Huntington Seaside. It was then transported to the Orange County Chicken of Prey Middle for rehabilitation.
(Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle)
In a best-case state of affairs, the injured chicken will regrow sufficient feathers to fly and return to the wild inside a yr. However there’s a probability it might take longer to heal, through which case the raptor’s stint in captivity could also be too lengthy for it to efficiently reintegrate into nature.
“If that’s true, he would possibly by no means be launched and will grow to be an academic ambassador to show all of us how to not use glue traps,” McGuire stated.
The chicken was dropped at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle in Huntington Seaside on July 23, the place workers used vegetable oil and solvents to progressively and gently take away the remaining glue. The chicken was washed, fed and given water earlier than being transported to the Orange County Chicken of Prey Middle, the place it should start its rehabilitation journey.
It’s unclear how lengthy it should take the owl to get well, or whether or not will probably be capable of return to the wild afterward.
(Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle)
The middle hopes that the chicken’s ordeal serves as a warning concerning the risks of glue traps — that are banned in nations reminiscent of England, Iceland and New Zealand, in addition to within the cities of West Hollywood and Ojai.
“We’re begging the general public to not use glue traps as a result of it traps numerous different wildlife apart from the supposed pests,” stated Elizabeth Woods, the veterinarian who handled the chicken, in a public service announcement on the middle’s social media accounts. “Even for these pests it’s a horrible method to die.”
McGuire stated that the middle get calls to rescue animals from glue traps no less than as soon as a month — which is “method too usually.” Oftentimes, birds will see a snake or rodent caught within the entice, land there to attempt to eat it, and grow to be trapped themselves.
As well as the the good horned owl, the middle has not too long ago rescued orioles and barn owls from comparable traps.
In January 2024, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) launched a invoice to position a nationwide ban on the “ruthless and inhumane” use of glue traps to catch rodents. Nevertheless, the proposed laws did not progress past the Home Subcommittee on Conservation, Analysis, and Biotechnology.
Ought to members of the general public encounter birds caught in glue traps, McGuire stated it’s vital that they don’t attempt to reduce or rip their feathers to free them. The very best plan of action is to wrap the chicken and the entice in a towel and produce it to an animal rescue middle.
Final yr, the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Middle rehabilitated round 8,600 injured or sick animals. McGuire stated that individuals who stay outdoors of Orange County are all the time welcome to name the group, which may advise them on an area remedy middle of their space.
