Waterloo woman heartbroken after wasp trap kills 7 birds

A local woman says she and her family are heartbroken after she purchased TrapStik, a product designed to kill wasps, which ended up trapping and killing seven small birds instead.

Jessie Wall, from Waterloo says she came across product sold by a U.S.-based company, while grocery shopping at Loblaw’s Real Canadian Superstore.

Wall decided to give it a try as wasps have been terrorizing her neighbourhood.

The TrapStik caught seven chickadees, all of which died, over a period of five days.

Wall said it was her son who discovered the dead birds and alerted her husband.

“They told me they were screaming and pecking at each other and pecking at him and they were really, really adhered to that trap, their wings, everything,” she said.

“They were on all sides, just completely splayed out, it was quite horrific.”

Wall says she followed the instructions on the box and placed the trap on an eaves trough, which is what the company recommends.

In a statement to CityNews, Stephanie Cates, director of marketing and communications for Sterling International Inc., the company behind the TrapStik, said that while it is extremely rare, the product has been known to trap birds.

“Relative to the number of TrapStiks we sell every year, catching a bird is an extremely rare occurrence. In the 5 years since this product was introduced in the U.S., we’ve sold over 1 million TrapStiks, and have been alerted to a bird catch about a dozen times,” the statement read.

“While rare, we acknowledge that this is an upsetting and traumatizing sight for anyone to see. As with any sticky trap used outdoors, there is a risk of catching a bird, a beneficial insect or any other creature that flies and comes into contact with this trap.”

Cates said customers are told to only hang a TrapStik in a tree if there is a hornet’s nest in that tree. Otherwise the product is to hang from a man-made structure, away from where children, birds or pets may come in contact with the adhesive.

But instances of bird catching were news to Loblaws.

Tammy Smitham, vice president of external communication for Loblaw Companies Ltd., said this was the first time they’d heard concerns about the product and they would begin notifying their stores to accept refunds.

“While we are aware that other Canadian retailers carry this item, we have made the proactive decision to remove the product from our shelves,” the statement read.

“We are working on issuing this notification to our stores and will be able to accept any returns with a receipt for a full refund.”

Home Hardware, which also carries the product, told CityNews it would be investigating the situation.

Customers are being advised that if they find birds or other small animals stuck to the TrapStik, to use soap and water to free the animals.