Ah, that's intended. You need to escape first, then grab it. Mechanical arms "steal" your items so to say.
Viewing post in Aftershift: the Post-TF game comments
I apologize for continuously bothering you. I've done that now, but it won't let me use the item. I get captured, escape and manage to get the yellow item, but it won't let me use it. Unless space suddenly isn't the button to be pressing when it comes to just that item, or the pig tf. Or maybe I'm escaping too early, if that's even a thing. Again, sorry for the continued whining. It's a really great game and I really can't wait until the skunkdrones get fleshed out.
Not at all, I am happy to answer questions and I understand the game's state is far from perfect and quite buggy. If you can't use space the the you don't have that state triggered yet. It's very hard to get it, because you'd need to pass all but last drone check, which includes eating, which leaves little room for escape. As said, this needs adjustment so it might be hard to get right for the time being. I think I'll boost weight lose rate in some future update so that at least managing these states is more up to the player.