Chippie on a glue trap

[CritterMom]

Ugh. I have a little one who is going to need a lot of luck.

The place I work has those damned professional Orkin glue traps EVERYWHERE and we are right on the edge of both woods and wetlands and so have lots of little animals… I sneak around the building and spray Febreez into them every few days hoping that the stink will keep things out of them.

Today one of the guys out back came running in looking for cooking oil…sure enough, they had a poor little chipmunk stuck to one of their freaking traps. By the time I made it out there he was submerged in oil, with his little head UNDER the surface, and the Orkin guy yanked him off the trap and tore his entire tail off. I would so dearly love to show him the mad skilz I have with a baseball bat…

I took the poor little thing home at lunch. He is terrified, in pain, and one of his legs is not working properly – it was all stretched out when he was glued down – I am hoping there is no real injury to it. He was so terrified that I just gave him a bit of hydration and some ibuprophen and tucked him into a big pile of fleece in a bin on a heating pad and left him to hopefully sleep. He is saturated with oil and I am hoping it has a lot of the glue softened so I can get a bit more off of him tonight.

I am going to start him on some Cipro because I don’t see HOW he could not have aspirated oil given that they had him snorkeling in it. I think he likely will not be with us still when I get home, but if he is, am I missing anything? Is that glue toxic? I am thinking that all of the manhandling necessary to really get it all off, then to get the oil off, is not a good idea… The oil is olive oil so no problem with it…

I hate these traps. I am just consumed with the desire to hurt someone right now…

[TubeDriver]

:(

That makes me sick. Poor little Chippie. I hate people sometimes.

[kendradfw]

:mad:Those traps are inhumane and that man needed one of those traps smashed in his face.

Poor little thing, I hope he recovers...

[missPixy]

I would go heavy on the hydration~~ he must've exerted so much energy trying to get free. also the hydration might help flush out any toxins associated with the glue, if it got into his system?

poor little one. WTF is wrong with some people??? Idiot yanking off his tail, you'd swear these places hire the otherwise un-hireable in terms of intellect. :soapbox

[HRT4SQRLS]

I hate those darn things. :madd Here is an article that addresses pneumonia caused by aspiration of Olive oil. I don't think antibiotics will help but it does sound like steroids are indicated. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9171848

Do you want me to scan and post the page in the WMB book about glue traps?

[Sara in NW MS]

That poor baby, I can't believe that man just ripped him off the glue trap like that. Not sure what is wrong with people, they make me sick.

I'm hoping he's going to be okay after some hydration and rest. Good luck with the glue removal. Thanks for being who you are and stepping in to save this little one from that idiot.

[stosh2010]

Those Glue Traps/ Glue Boards are the most inhumane animal trap --ever. If you have never actually touched one...you can imagine the "holding power"that they have.
Prayers for a recovery and rehab for this innocent little victim.

[SammysMom]

Oh for Christsake!!! WTH is wrong with these people?!!! I have a FB page devoted to the negative results of these torture traps. If nothing else comes of this, perhaps it will make people think twice about the use of them.
Oil, hydration and AB is all I can think of. There is claim that the glue is not toxic, but I think that is incorrect.
I might be more apt to try to spray those nasty traps with oil or Pam to render the traps useless.

[Carol Lynn]

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm going to ask a stupid question here: what is the oil for?? Is that supposed to help get them unstuck from the trap?? And if so, why is it necessary to completely submerge him?? :dono

So sorry to hear about this little guy. Absolutely heartbreaking. The only good thing about this whole story is that he ended up in your care. Will be sending prayers and positive thoughts his way (and yours).

[lukaslolamaus]

Poor little chippie :sniff. I hate those traps with a passion.
He's a lucky little guy you were there and that he is in your care :hug

[CritterMom]

Forgive my ignorance, but I'm going to ask a stupid question here: what is the oil for?? Is that supposed to help get them unstuck from the trap?? And if so, why is it necessary to completely submerge him?? :dono

So sorry to hear about this little guy. Absolutely heartbreaking. The only good thing about this whole story is that he ended up in your care. Will be sending prayers and positive thoughts his way (and yours).

Oil dissolves sticky stuff like that - the same way it dissolves mascara. I use it to get all kinds of things like tree sap, etc. off. And it dissolves the bond of the glue traps. Ideally you would work with small amounts - enough to soak the fur but not submerge him for God's sake - big strong men; their hands were shaking and they had on welding gloves...if I had been a few seconds faster...

He is remarkably perkier than I would have EVER dreamed he would be. He LOVES blueberries...it was all that was eaten from this afternoon and I gave him some more and he went right over and started eating them. His leg is MUCH better. If I can get him past any glue issues he may be okay. He is oily and spikey but I am not going to attempt to wash him - the fleece will absorb a lot of it.

With the wound I hate to start him on pred if I don't have to. I may see what he looks like tomorrow - I was shocked to find him in as good shape as I did when I got home.

I have him in a rubbermade bin with a window screen on top with lots of fleece. The whole mess is in my downstairs shower which I can completely close up so even if he got out of the bin he would still be contained. I need to make a better top - the screen is almost as big as the shower stall - I need an overhead crane to get in there...

I so hope he recovers. He can join the million chippies I already have and he won't ever run into one of those contraptions again.

My concern with spraying the glue traps with oil is that the Orkin guy will notice that. The Febreez smell dissipates (for our noses). This trap - I had no idea it was there so I wasn't spraying it.

[nkkritters]

That is great that you spray the glue traps!!! I am glad the little one is doing well in your care!!

[SammysMom]

A container of cornmeal available to him might help. It is good for absorbing oil and won't hurt him if he eats it.

[Carol Lynn]

So glad to hear that he is doing so much better!! Sounds like he's eating well, which is always a great sign!

Isn't it terrible that they had to manhandle him so badly? I had no idea why they would submerge him in oil - it's lucky that they didn't kill him just by doing that!!

Those traps are disgusting. I wish they would outlaw them.

[stosh2010]

So glad to hear that he is doing so much better!! Sounds like he's eating well, which is always a great sign!

Isn't it terrible that they had to manhandle him so badly? I had no idea why they would submerge him in oil - it's lucky that they didn't kill him just by doing that!!

Those traps are disgusting. I wish they would outlaw them.

Australia has outlawed them...a good start.....

[Carol Lynn]

Australia has outlawed them...a good start.....

Did they really? I didn't know that. That's very encouraging!! Too late for this poor little guy, but at least he's in good hands now and coming around. Let's hope that he'll be so distracted by the constant supply of yummy blueberries that it distracts him from his pain and greasy fur for a while!!

[stepnstone]

I so hope he recovers. He can join the million chippies I already have and he won't ever run into one of those contraptions again.

I too hope you will be able to give him that new life. :grouphug
Saying prayers for little chippie... http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/christian/prayer-smiley-emoticon.png

[island rehabber]

Poor sweetie! YAY for CritterMom and YAY for Australia, too --- they should be outlawed everywhere.

[CritterMom]

Yes, and these are big commercial traps with deep glue, not the little ones you buy in the store.

Well, I set Blueberry (yup) up last night with more of his namesake, which he just LOVES, some pecans and sunflower seeds and some apple pieces. He tried the apple, ate the blueberries (of course) and pecans, and sampled the sunflower seeds. He isn't racing around bashing the sides of the container anymore - he understands the barriers and is pretty calm. This morning he got a gourmet selection of fresh fruit, veggies, seeds, nuts, HHBs, etc, and came right over to see what he got when I put it in there.

Tonight when I get home I am going to clean up the long, horizontal finch flight cage I used for Laz when he was an adolescent - it has 1/2" bar spacing and the long flat design is great for a chippie. I can settle him near a window so he can peek out and I will also be able to monitor how he moves and how his breathing is in that a lot easier than I can the bin he is in now. So I am still very, very cautiously optimistic.

[TubeDriver]

:serene

[Nancy in New York]

Great job CritterMom! :bowdown

[DarkLies212]

Amazing job!!

I know the company wouldn't care, but would sending pictures to the corporate's office do ANYTHING at all? Maybe with proper protocol for removing little critters?

Can't wait to see pictures of Blueberry! :hug

[missPixy]

Oh for Christsake!!! WTH is wrong with these people?!!! I have a FB page devoted to the negative results of these torture traps. If nothing else comes of this, perhaps it will make people think twice about the use of them.
Oil, hydration and AB is all I can think of. There is claim that the glue is not toxic, but I think that is incorrect.
I might be more apt to try to spray those nasty traps with oil or Pam to render the traps useless.

that is a GENIUS idea and one I will surely use should I come across one.

[lennysmom]

Blueberry probably thinks he landed in food paradise with a spread like that to choose from - going from scrounging around a building searching for food to that!:thumbsup I'm praying he will continue to do well and be able to enjoy life in the wild once again.:Love_Icon And perhaps the men who saw the awful effects of the glue trap on that poor little guy will think twice before using them.. one can always hope. They use poison at my husbands work and he goes around switching it out with kibble that looks similar. He discovered that reasoning with them just did not work.:shakehead People can be so willfully blind and cruel - makes me sick!:pissed
Thank you for giving little Blueberry every chance possible.:)

[CritterMom]

There is no chance they will stop using those traps. There is an absolutely ENORMOUS chance I will continue to sabotage them though.

And "the wild" will be Chippietopia, A.K.A. my yard, where the food never runs out!

[stepnstone]

There is no chance they will stop using those traps. There is an absolutely ENORMOUS chance I will continue to sabotage them though.
And "the wild" will be Chippietopia, A.K.A. my yard, where the food never runs out!

:w00t :grouphug

[CritterMom]

So Thursday evening when I got home from work, I knew I had to get Blueberry OUT of the plastic bin in my downstairs shower stall and into a proper cage so I could monitor him without having to loom over the top of him and scare him to death! He had already demonstrated that he could get out of the bin. So I got Laz’s old teenage cage cleaned up and ready and set out on the very interesting task of moving him. Now bear in mind, I was INSIDE a closed shower stall that had a large Rubbermaid tote in it, as well as the window screen that was on top of the tote. That left me with about one square foot of floorspace for my feet. That meant I was chasing greased (literally!) lightening around a small enclosed area using only my upper body! OMG! He ran up my pants leg. He ran under my shirt! He ran up my face and “dug” his way into my hair! I am extremely happy there was nobody around with a video camera… I am also very happy h kept his teeth to himself!

But he liked his new house with the upside down dog bed as his “burrow” and he really liked the chow. I don’t know about any others, but Blueberry LOVES kale! He also began whistling along with the outdoor chippies and doing his alarm cry and diving under his bed every time I walked into the room! What a little cutie.:Love_Icon

By Sunday his fur looked pretty good; his tail looked excellent and nobody watching the shower stall fiasco could claim he wasn’t 100% mobile! So Monday morning I wrestled that big cage into the basement and set it up in front of one of the windows, and ran a cardboard mailing tube from inside his cage through the window and out into the big rockpile. Since it is a basement, the windowsill is only a couple inches above the ground outside. He was very excited about all the wild smells coming in the open window and he ran around sniffing for ages. Then he hopped into the tube and the next I saw he was on the ground outside.

He was so HAPPY! He jumped and hopped and explored all over; he nibbled at all kinds of things, and he eventually worked his way over to the big oak in the corner behind which is a fairly steep, ledge filled woods, and I lost him in the underbrush.

I hope the other chippies are nice to him. I hope he comes back to eat me out of house and home like all the others. I left his little cage set up all day yesterday but of course he didn’t return – it is set up again today, just in case…:blowkiss Good luck little man.

[Nancy in New York]

So Thursday evening when I got home from work, I knew I had to get Blueberry OUT of the plastic bin in my downstairs shower stall and into a proper cage so I could monitor him without having to loom over the top of him and scare him to death! He had already demonstrated that he could get out of the bin. So I got Laz’s old teenage cage cleaned up and ready and set out on the very interesting task of moving him. Now bear in mind, I was INSIDE a closed shower stall that had a large Rubbermaid tote in it, as well as the window screen that was on top of the tote. That left me with about one square foot of floorspace for my feet. That meant I was chasing greased (literally!) lightening around a small enclosed area using only my upper body! OMG! He ran up my pants leg. He ran under my shirt! He ran up my face and “dug” his way into my hair! I am extremely happy there was nobody around with a video camera… I am also very happy h kept his teeth to himself!

But he liked his new house with the upside down dog bed as his “burrow” and he really liked the chow. I don’t know about any others, but Blueberry LOVES kale! He also began whistling along with the outdoor chippies and doing his alarm cry and diving under his bed every time I walked into the room! What a little cutie.:Love_Icon

By Sunday his fur looked pretty good; his tail looked excellent and nobody watching the shower stall fiasco could claim he wasn’t 100% mobile! So Monday morning I wrestled that big cage into the basement and set it up in front of one of the windows, and ran a cardboard mailing tube from inside his cage through the window and out into the big rockpile. Since it is a basement, the windowsill is only a couple inches above the ground outside. He was very excited about all the wild smells coming in the open window and he ran around sniffing for ages. Then he hopped into the tube and the next I saw he was on the ground outside.

He was so HAPPY! He jumped and hopped and explored all over; he nibbled at all kinds of things, and he eventually worked his way over to the big oak in the corner behind which is a fairly steep, ledge filled woods, and I lost him in the underbrush.

I hope the other chippies are nice to him. I hope he comes back to eat me out of house and home like all the others. I left his little cage set up all day yesterday but of course he didn’t return – it is set up again today, just in case…:blowkiss Good luck little man.

What a perfect update CritterMom!
You saved another little life. :bowdown :w00t:hug

[stepnstone]

Thanks to you little Chippie landed in paradise. :dance Good job! :grouphug
Your shower stall fiasco sounds like it would have been a winner on AFV.
My mental picture sure has me rolling.... :laugh2

[DarkLies212]

Such a perfect update!! And of course, your description almost has me rolling! :laugh2

[Lighten-Up]

So happy to hear this update on this chippy! So glad that you were able to provide it a wonderful new life. :Love_Icon

I have never before had the thought of what it would be like to be alone with a live feisty chipmunk in a shower stall...:grin2 Now I'm thinking I was missing out!

[TubeDriver]

:great

[lennysmom]

Wonderful update!:dance What a great outcome to a sad start.:) Thanks to you, that little chippie has a second chance at life!:hug

[CritterMom]

Well, I am happy to say that Blueberry has decided to stick around! Instead of moving in to the area that I had picked out, which fronts on the woods, Blueberry travelled halfway around the property and has taken up residence in my front garden, which provides fast and easy access to the front and side porches, A.K.A. The Foodie Zone.

Also...SHE stood up tall on her haunches and unless someone bought her a tiny furry double breasted 6 button vest, Blueberry is not only a SHE, but a mama. I wonder if the little thing was pregnant when she got stuck to the trap?

Her little tail is about 2inches long, and the fur at the tip is pure white, so she is easy to spot. Makes me very happy that she decided to move in permanently!

[Lighten-Up]

I had followed this tread way back, and so I am so happy to see this new outcome. :grin3

Thanks for sharing!

[Chickenlegs]

This is just the ending of fairytales--er--chippietales. :blowkiss

[Spanky]

She's a smart girl... setting up her nursery close to the food supply... lots of mouths to feed!

What a great update! :dance

[PennyCash]

Congratulations Blueberry and CritterMom! I love happy news :serene

[stosh2010]

HOOT !!
HOOT !!
HOOT !!

[Mel1959]

Wonderful chippie-tale! :serene

[HRT4SQRLS]

I love a story with a happy ending. :grin2

[SammysMom]

This is the best news! Thank-you so much for taking such good care of this sweet girl! :grouphug:Love_Icon:grouphug

[cava]

You are awesome, great outcome!:serene

[JLM27]

I just hope no babies were left behind. Great job!