Some traps are intentional, to rid your space of pests that belong outdoors and some are wholly unintentional manmade objects left where wildlife encounter and cannot escape them. With awareness and a little effort we can significantly reduce the impacts of man-made hazards.
Glue Pest Traps are designed and sold to control crawling pests like rats and mice. They would be placed where rats and mice hunt for their prey, insects. It is not only awful way to die if you are a rodent, but the hunters of the same insects or of the rodents themselves are also caught in these glue traps. Small ring-necked snakes, larger snakes, toads, lizards, birds, and chipmunks fall victim to these traps. They suffer horrible deaths and their important roles in the ecosystem are left unfulfilled, and their young left unfed.
Plastic mesh netting. Plastic mesh netting is a danger to wildlife. If you are using small gauge netting to protect your berry or fruit tree harvest from hungry birds, the mesh should be no larger than .5” x .5” to keep small birds from becoming entangled and dying. If you are using plastic mesh fencing to protect your garden from larger animals the gauge should be 2” x 2” or larger. Better yet, use wire Snakes hunting their prey can become entangled as they crawl through or up the mesh.. As they struggle they twist it tighter making it impossible to escape without human intervention. Like ghostnets in the ocean that unintentionally trap and kill ocean life, any unused netting left in your yard, shed or garage can trap snakes busy hunting their rodent prey. Songbirds, birds of prey, and small mammals can also get entangled in plastic netting. Be sure to store unused or discarded mesh safely in a closed container or in its original wrapping.
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Smooth-sided containers. Small crawling animals can get into an empty pail or flower pot but if the sides are too slick and there is nothing in it to help them crawl out, they will perish there, or drown if the container fills with rainwater. Waterfilled containers can even trap small birds if they land in the water, get their wings wet, and can’t fly out. To avoid this sad end, store containers tipped on their sides even when in your garage or shed, or store them with a rough branch that can be used as an escape ladder by climbing animals.
Window Wells. Window wells or below-grade crawl space entries can trap non-climbing turtles, frogs, and toads that can’t grip the walls or jump to safety. They can’t get food or water and will die there. To avoid this, monitor your window wells daily or consider capping with a hardware cloth screen fitted to the opening such that it doesn’t block air flow but will keep most animals out.
Putting a tree branch or rough piece of wood in the well to hang out over the top can help climbing creatures escape without a wire mesh cover but this wouldn’t help the turtle who fell into a window well while looking for a place to lay eggs.
Litter. The following list are just some of the materials that are intentionally, or unintentionally left where wildlife can be harmed. Plastic fragments, plastic bags, six-pack rings, fishing line, hooks, fishing weights (often lead), lead shot, Christmas tree tinsel and ribbon are hazards. Food wrappers or containers discarded along roads attract foraging wildlife and puts them at greater risk of being hit by vehicles.
Swimming Pools and Man Made Water Features. Frogs love to swim and often hang out in the cool shadows of your skimmer basket. They can get in easily but can’t get out. A FrogLog holds onto the deck of the pool connected by a flexible ramp to a foam platform that floats on the service. Frogs exit the pool by the ramp.
Another device, a Critter Skimmer, provides a spiral ramp up from the skimmer basket through the skimmer cover. For other water features, make sure there are rocks, logs or other structures that frogs can climb to escape.
Open vertical pipes. Seemingly innocuous vertical pipes without caps pose a threat to cavity-nesting birds who, looking for the ideal cavity, enter the top of the pipe then are unable to exit. The Fish and Wildlife Service documents this threat here.
Owl caught in fake spiderweb
Decorations. Fake spiderweb decorations used for Halloween are lethal for birds who can easily get entangled and not be able to free themselves. If you decorate with them, leave them up a short time and check them frequently to make sure you aren’t making the holiday more gruesome than you intended.
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