UPPER DERWENT VALLEY Animal cruelty investigators have identified a new type of trap designed to kill birds of prey using a “sticky squirrel” as bait. A dead squirrel smeared with glue had been placed on a bale of loose twine. Birds landing on the trap would have become stuck in the glue or had their talons entangled in the twine, said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Two of the traps were found in the Upper Derwent Valley, Derbyshire, and were thought to be intended to kill goshawks nesting nearby. Ian West, RSPB head of investigations, said: “We haven’t seen anything like this before. The nature of the trap and its position clearly indicate this was designed to kill the breeding goshawks at this location. Any bird unlucky enough to get trapped would have suffered a lingering death.”