fairly horrific.

[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.