Live trapping of small mammals for ecological research or pest management poses significant welfare risks from exposure, stress, and injury that careful protocol design can substantially reduce.
Small mammal trapping is conducted at enormous scale for both research and pest management, and welfare standards vary considerably. In research contexts, ethics committees now routinely require minimum check intervals, trap provisioning with bedding and food, and seasonal restrictions in severe weather. In pest control, the welfare calculus is more complex — the most humane lethal methods must be weighed against speed and cost. Glue traps, which cause prolonged suffering and death, are increasingly recognised as unacceptable and have been banned in the UK for pest control in public spaces. Improving trap welfare requires both better equipment design and stronger enforcement of existing protocols.