A protected native Maltese snake was one of the most recent victims of the use of glue traps, according to wildlife rescuers.

The juvenile snake was freed by volunteers of the Wildlife Rescue Team before it was too late.

“Please stop using glue traps. There are more humane ways one can trap an animal,” the NGO wrote in a Facebook post.

Angelique Catania, a rescue team volunteer, explained that over these last years, they received several calls about animals stuck in glue traps. These included hedgehogs, bats, snakes and lizards.

“Glue traps do not discriminate and choose which animal gets stuck to them," she said.

“Apart from that, it’s a very cruel death for any animal. Once stuck, the animal will frantically wriggle in order to try and free itself. This causes massive internal damage and that is how the animal dies,” she said.

A few days ago, the rescue team received a call after a juvenile leopard snake was caught in a glue trap. A volunteer managed to free the snake from the glue.

Reaching up to a metre in length, the leopard snake is one of the native snake species in the Maltese islands. It is protected through national, international and EU legislation.

This species is usually ash-grey or yellowish and has reddish-brown spots with black borders. Due to its inhabitation of urbanised areas, it is often killed due to the belief that all snakes are dangerous, even though this species does not have any venom and poses no threat to humans.

Catania said that people often used glue traps to catch mice. They did not realise that other animals can get trapped – which often happens.

“The animals are not attracted to the glue. The glue just happens to be in their path. In the case of some animals, they die immediately. But, in some cases, as with the snake, we manage to remove the animal using a mixture of soap and oil. It can take hours,” she said.

The Wildlife Rescue Team can be reached on 9999 9505.