LIVE OAK — A squirrel was euthanized after a resident discovered the rodent flailing with two different miniature steal traps clamped onto his limbs Sunday evening.
Now, a nonprofit wildlife emergency response group has put up a cash reward for the arrest and conviction of whoever set the illegal steel hold leg traps. Wildlife Emergency Services is offering an initial $1,000 reward and is soliciting support to increase its reward offering.
The squirrel, found by Live Oak resident Alysa Rowe, was still mobile and able to climb fences and trees at the time she was able to corral it and bring it to Native Animal Rescue for care and trap removal. Rowe said she solicited family and neighbors’ help to surround the squirrel and detain it in a box as it tangled itself in a nearby tree. Ignoring the suffering animal, she said, was just not an option.
“It was rolling instead of walking, it really couldn’t walk at all. I thought, at first, that it had a broken leg,” Rowe said. “But, then I saw the two traps, which on this squirrel looked quite large.”
The traps, with approximately 3-inch-wide crescent mouths, are believed to have been set within the area of Felt Street, Corcoran Street, Paget Avenue or 24th Avenue in Live Oak. Todd Stosuy, field services manager in animal control for Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, said such traps are banned in the state of California, and many other states, “because they cause so much pain and suffering.” Those found guilty of setting such traps could face fines of not less than $300-$2,000 or one year in county jail, in addition to animal cruelty punishments, Stosuy said.
After the squirrel was brought to the attention of animal control, Stosuy said an officer was dispatched to the neighborhood to knock on doors and check out backyards for similar traps. The officer was unable to locate the owner of the traps, however, he said. Stosuy said that, beyond the traps’ illegality and threat to wildlife, they could potentially injure and maim household pets or small children, as well. He described the unanchored traps as having clamped onto the squirrel’s front and back left paws and severing the flesh down to the bone.
Due to the extent of the squirrel’s injuries, officials opted to humanely euthanize the rodent, Stosuy said.
Wildlife Emergency Services founder Rebecca Dmytryk said the steel leg traps were different than other types of quick-killing rodent “snap traps” commonly seen on the market.
“Nobody, not even a licensed trapper, is allowed to set traps for wildlife like squirrels without following the fairly strict California trapping regulations, which would actually prohibit anybody setting trap within 150 yards of another person’s house without their written consent,” Dmytryk said. “There’s ways of dealing with nuisance wildlife without taking lethal measures.”
Dmytryk, who also operates a private pest control company, said the basic principle of effective rodent control is to remove or reduction of the attraction to residents’ yards. Killing one troublemaking rodent only opens the door to the next, she said.
Community members with information related to the case are asked to contact Stosuy, the Santa Cruz County Animal Control officer, at Todd.Stosuy@santacruzcounty.us.