Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: Central Ratsnakes

Nineteen juvenile central ratsnakes and an eastern milksnake walk into a wildlife center on multiple glue traps…

No, that’s not the start to a joke.

These 20 snakes were found stuck to multiple glue traps that were put down by a pest control company without the knowledge of the property owners. The finders were appalled when they found them and, upon opening them, upset when they saw the results.

Unfortunately, two of the juvenile ratsnakes were already deceased on arrival.

Our team was all hands on deck in working to get each individual carefully removed, moving delicately to prevent damage to the scales and tissue beneath.

Afterwards, each snake required a thorough exam to ensure there were no other problems needing treatment, and then a careful bath to further remove the adhesive remover used to free them.

Unfortunately, the single milksnake was found deceased the next day, but the remaining 18 ratsnakes were alert, healthy, and hydrated after a soak and time to decompress.

After a few days of monitoring to make sure there were no additional concerns from being stuck to these traps, these snakes were promptly released back to the property where they were found!

This story carries a few morals:

1. Never use glue traps. They cause incredible stress, trauma, and suffering to many kinds of wildlife, no matter what you’re trying to catch.
2. Make sure when using any pest control companies, you are clear with them that they should never be using methods that endanger wildlife at-large; this includes glue traps AND rodenticide.

These finders did a great job at bringing these snakes together all still on the traps rather than attempting to remove them themselves. At-home removal often causes injury, stress, and can have fatal consequences.

Make sure to get any animals stuck to a glue trap to a rehabilitator ASAP still on the trap for professional removal, evaluation, and follow-up care should they need it.

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