Glue traps to kill spotted lanternflies are killing birds in NJ

Killing spotted lanternflies has been drilled into us like a civic duty.

We’ve been tasked to do this with an almost military urgency because this invasive species is so detrimental to agriculture. By any means necessary is a good way of describing how serious the call to destroy these pests has been.

There are many methods. Scraping the eggs off trees before they even hatch is one. Stomping on them is another and experts have even educated us that these suckers will jump away from your foot but only a few feet. Once they’ve jumped two or three times, they tire, then you can usually move in for the kill stomp. Salt guns have even been used and people have posted videos in slow—mo on social media of their salt gun kills.

But another popular method of stopping the spotted lanternfly is turning out to be killing birds.

Glue traps.

People are wrapping tree trunks in glue traps to catch and kill the pest. Turns out it’s catching birds in an unintended consequence.

The Raptor Trust, a nonprofit, says there’s been a big increase in birds being harmed this way in New Jersey. Ironically some of the birds being injured or killed are the type that would be a natural predator of the very spotted lanternfly homeowners are intending to target.

The group was involved in 61 cases of birds caught in glue traps and most of those in the last two months. 23 of those birds died. 23 more are still being treated for injuries while 15 have recovered and been released.

The group wants people to know,

“While the spotted lanternfly is of great concern in our area, the unintended consequences of this method of remediation far outweigh its effectiveness, and in some cases the by-catch victims are they very things that might prey upon the lanternflies in the first place.”

Executive Director Christopher Soucy says,

“Once they’re in that trap, they’re struggling to get free,” and that the birds suffer from “feather damage and abrasions, skin damage, as well as trauma and stress and shock.”

A safer method if you insist on glue traps is to put a wire mesh with half inch by half inch holes overtop. That way the spotted lanternfly fits and gets stuck but birds generally won’t.

If you find any birds injured this way The Raptor Trust’s contact numbers are 908-647-2353 and 908-647-1091.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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