fairly horrific.

[kerensa]

Snake Guard Snake Traps - Nixalite of America (http://www.nixalite.com/snakeguard.aspx?gclid=CNTWhe2v5bACFYFo4Aodsw253Q)

people really are nasty sometimes.

[ProXimuS]

OMG OW!!! Poor snakes...I had to stop the movie when I saw him stuck on the glue...:(

[katach]

I sent them an email.

" I just wanted to let you know that your scale trap is not humane. That adhesive can cause serious damage to the snakes scales letting them be exposed to infection and even death (and a slow one at that). You really need to re-think your approach. I am just horrified that you are advertising this as a humane way to trap them. I think you need to do more research on your products before putting them up for sale."

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

[kerensa]

Its very disturbing for me too. The poor things. did you see the snake pic they used in the brochure? Its such an adorable snake... :(

[kerensa]

Thanks for sending the e-mail. I shall also. Had not thought of it earlier, was simply stunned as to the horrific cruelty.

[ProXimuS]

I didn't look around too much after I saw that one poor guy:(


Way to go Kat!!! :D

[katach]

Yeah. I probably won't hear back, but maybe if enough people complain they will pull the product.

[kerensa]

the pic in the brochure could be from one of us. lovely yellow stripes. :( hope if othing else the breeder who's photo it is can stop them from using it.

[ProXimuS]

I saw the picture...He reminds me a little of mine:(



I have also sent them an email.....(Again good thinkin Kat!)

[EasternGirl]

I'm not even going to watch it. I'll just get all depressed for the rest of the night. But the emails are a good idea.

[kerensa]

The most bothersome part is the product is completely unnecessary. There are profesionals who will come and remove a snake, and advise on how to stop reoccurances. I know, My father was one. He would go and remove as many snakes as were present for a fairly low house call pricing- less then they are charging for a pack of these traps by far. That is the humane method of snake removal.

I really dislike people sometimes. People who use glue traps in my experience ussually dispose of them with the trapped animal still alive. The makers realize this. thats why the trap is a box, so they don't even have to see the poor snake. These people have made it onto my list. :(

[d_virginiana]

That's horrible! And completely unnecessary... Unless you're located on top of a hibernaculum or have a lot of venomous snakes around, snakes are the best and safest pest control out there! We're in a really agricultural area, and even people who HATE snakes refuse to kill rat and corn snakes for that reason.

It ticks me off that they're selling it as 'humane' too, because there are probably a lot of people who know nothing about snakes and think that leaving the container in a field somewhere and pouring vegetable oil on it doesn't harm the snake.

Way to go writing them a letter!

[kerensa]

That's horrible! And completely unnecessary... Unless you're located on top of a hibernaculum or have a lot of venomous snakes around, snakes are the best and safest pest control out there!

Way to go writing them a letter!

yup on both counts. Rattlers are what my father used to get called to collect most often. he used to milk them for the venom. Had quite a number of lovely specimens. (had to have a permit in California to keep them) But even with rattlers, they are not out there hunting people- they're happy to head the other way when a person is coming. (I know that from experience) If you're on top of a hibernaculum trapping a few isn't gonna help... time to either call them family or move. Again the glue trap is a bad idea.

:(

[thamneil]

What has our world come to? Its just kind of silly when you think about it. Thats basically the equivalent of superglueing a human to board of plywood to evict them from an area. Pathetic invention. I once saw a version of this trap placed in barns to trap sparrows. It was one of the cruelest things I have ever seen. By all means, trap and remove an invasive species, but if it is going to die let it die with dignity.

[ProXimuS]

Yea...Like the glue mouse traps :( I hate those. We had them at work for a little bit when we had a few mice and sometimes you could hear them screaming!:( It was horrible...

[thamneil]

We had those at my work, a PET STORE! I gave our manager a stern talk and threatened to create a big deal out of it. Yeah I got a write up... but our mice are now caught in live traps :) I think we might be using poison to though... you can never win fully.

[EasternGirl]

I was actually thinking of starting up my own business of removing unwanted non-venomous snakes for people in my area. I wouldn't want to deal with venomous...since I really have no training or experience in handling them. We don't get many venomous snakes around here anyway. I was thinking I could start by word of mouth...many people around here know that I am a hobbyist. Perhaps advertise through my local pet store and vet. Maybe start up as a free thing...but accept tips and then move onto charging a fee if I think I can actually make something of the business. Eventually, I plan to have my own snake rescue...but for now...there are plenty of places I know that I could take the snakes to release them safely in the wild.

[kerensa]

LOL. I'm not so good with Venemous snakes now either. although the first snake I ever held was a copper head. I was 5. Thats when Mom made dad make sure there were pad locks on ALL snake enclosures. I don't remember it but Mom says she had nightmares about it for years.

[EasternGirl]

I would def do venomous snakes as well if I had some training in handling them. We do have copperheads and timber rattlers around here...but I have never seen either and I have lived here my whole life. Now I have seen cottonmouths in the lower part of the state...but I would not deal with them! Most of the time when someone has an unwanted snake in their yard or basement around here...you are dealing with a garter or a rat snake...occasionally a black racer...and they can be aggressive...but I have dealt with them.

[kerensa]

well I have "some training" it was impossible liking reptiles in my family growing up and not getting some training from my father in how to deal with the venomous ones... I'm still not going to go out hunting them, which my father did for fun. (he would catch, measure, weigh, milk and release. and photo any he thought interesting and did not want to keep)

[Thamnophis]

This indeed is a very unfriendly way to prevent snakes to come in your house etc. I thought in the USA there also are laws to prevent animal cruelty?
I know for 99 % that this method would not be allowed in the Netherlands. But it will not be used here since we only have three snake species here in the wild and they almost never will come in the neighborhood of people's houses.

[Chondro788]

After high school I worked at a local pet store that used glue traps for rodents. When we found rodents on the traps, we would euthanize them in a fairly "humane" manner. Unfortunately, as humans we sometimes have to kill animals that are pest. We would sometimes catch snakes on the glue traps as well, and the vegetable oil worked pretty good. Usually after just one shed, the snake looked fine and suffered no side effects. I never had a snake die that was caught in the trap. So although the traps seem bad, they may not be as bad as they seem if the person is willing to take the time and free the animal with some oil. I agree, however, that there is probably not a need for a "snake trap"...

[Spankenstyne]

I often wonder if we just look for reasons to be outraged. It's not as bad as it looks, it's one of the more humane trap methods out there if properly monitored and the literature on the site explains how to humanely release the snake afterwards.
The first paragraph even says: "Snakes have always played an important role in helping maintain nature's ecological balance. Through predation, they help keep rodent and other pest populations under control, helping prevent the damage that can come from rodent and insect over-population."

It's also a way some use to catch escapees as well, with some vegetable oil the snake comes free quite easily usually with very little damage.

Beyond the best case scenario of just leaving the snakes alone, or having someone come in and manually capture & relocate it's one of the more humane ways of dealing with it. There are some truly cruel & terrible traps out there, this one's not so bad by comparison. Obviously I'd rather nobody ever used any traps period but it's much better than home owners going after the snakes with garden tools. This way the snakes get to live another day.

[snake man12]

That is simply terrible to get them stuck on glue. I personally have seen snakes stuck on adhesive and it is not pretty and certainly not humane. End of rant

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah. I probably won't hear back, but maybe if enough people complain they will pull the product.

I don't think so. This is nothing new. They've been receiving such complaints for many years. They'll only stop selling them when people stop buying them. I'm not even so concerned about wanting them to stop selling them, but for cryin' out loud, stop calling it humane. Anyone who would use this on a snake isn't going to bother using cooking oil to release it. Furthermore, I've heard it doesn't work and most of the time, the snake is hopelessly stuck or injured in the process. And if you don't check it for a week or three, then what?

All these concerns aside, I really think they need to stop calling the traps "humane" at the very least. That goes for "live" mouse traps too. I've seen them in action. The mice either go into immediate shock from being flipped into the trap, or the mouse starves to death in a matter of hours. A mouse will starve in 12 hours or less. We used those kind of traps at a place I used to work. Even if checked daily, 90% of the mice have already died a quite cruel and prolonged death. Regular instant kill traps are more humane if you ask me.

[ProXimuS]

I don't think so. This is nothing new. They've been receiving such complaints for many years. They'll only stop selling them when people stop buying them. I'm not even so concerned about wanting them to stop selling them, but for cryin' out loud, stop calling it humane. Anyone who would use this on a snake isn't going to bother using cooking oil to release it. Furthermore, I've heard it doesn't work and most of the time, the snake is hopelessly stuck or injured in the process. And if you don't check it for a week or three, then what?



That's exactly what I was thinking...

[kerensa]

, stop calling it humane. Anyone who would use this on a snake isn't going to bother using cooking oil to release it.

that is what I think too. after all its a box rather than just a flat piece of cardboard so you don't even have to see the snake when you throw it out. I don't on average people who use glue traps release the critters.

I had a number of live-catch mouse traps back in the early 80's. they were a sort that tilted and closed when a mouse etc walked in. solid plastic with air holes. I had to check those things every few hours because if a mouse was in one it would not survive very long. They did work, I ended up with a tank full of field mice. (winter time, and although I may not want them in my cupboards- but I'm not tossing them outside in 3 foot snow) It was worth the effort to me, but I remember thinking "I wonder how many of these cheap live catch self closing, hard to open boxes are sold to people who just throw the whole thing away?"

I don't care if its trapped in a tiny box or in a square tube of glue, I think the whole out of sight thing is for people who don't even want to look at them when its time to throw the whole thing out.

:(