Journal

Flypaper bat

Apr 26, 2022 | Diary, Family, Larmer Tree Studio, Wildlife

A Pipistrelle bat I received last summer.  The poor thing was covered in glue from a sticky flypaper trap. It looked and felt like a hard piece of wood and I  initially couldn’t tell which end was its head or tail.

Am pleased to share the news that glue traps are finally to be banned in England.  Glue traps cause horrific suffering: broken bones, torn skin, suffocation, dehydration, and starvation. A long slow painful death.   They are indiscriminate killers and have caught wildl birds, pets: kittens, puppies, reptiles, hedgehogs, wood voles, shrews, mice, rats, and bats.

A government-backed Private Members Bill received unanimous support for banning glue traps during its final reading in the House of Lords last week and will come into effect in England in two years time. My only wish is that flypaper traps were included as they not only kill our declining insect species: butterflies, moths, but also cause immense suffering and kill bats that happen to be innocently chasing and hunting these insects. Sadly sticky flypapers are hung in stables, barns, and as in the case of this pip .. in a porch. If it is truly necessary to hang a flypaper trap, please place it inside a metal or plastic bird feeder so that bats cannot become stuck along with their prey.

 

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