In the first picture, you can see how its jaw is stuck to the bottom of the trap while its head is stuck to the side. I had to be very careful getting it out so that I didn’t cause any more pain, fear, or injury. 

At first, it was not happy with me at all. But as I worked it out of the trap, it seemed to begin to understand I was trying to help and kinda work with me instead of against me. 

I used olive oil and rubber gloves to slowly free it from the trap, working tail to head. It didn’t seem to lose any scales or skin in the process and overall looked healthy afterwards. Once out, it gave me lots of sniffies. I placed it in the plastic container to move it from the garage to inside. The plastic container is covered in oil because it was covered in oil. 

Once inside, i put it in a glass bowl lined with a thin towel/rag that isn’t floofy or abrasive. I placed a small cup of water in the bowl, too. I covered the bowl in a cheese cloth and placed it a healthy distance from my desk space heater—it’s cold where I am at and figured it wouldn’t hurt to offer a bit of heat. 

I don’t keep snakes, but I have friends who do… that’s to say, I have no idea what I’m doing and am guessing off what my friends have told me and what Google/reddit said to do. 

I am going to let it go when the sun comes up and it is warmer outside. 

I think it’s a gopher snake—i did lots of googling before i handled it to figure out if it was a rattler or a gopher lol. My wife would have been mad if i got bit by a baby rattle snake in the middle of the night lmaooo. 

I found a gopher snake stuck in a mouse-glue trap tonight. I thought it was dead at first, but it moved when I picked up the trap to throw it away. After 3.5 hours and a lot of very gentle movement, he/she is free. Its health seems okay post-release.