Guam Snakes Being Fought With Poisoned Mice Parachuted In From Helicopters

Brown tree snakes in Guam have wildlife officials there seeing red. That's why the officials are air-dropping poisoned mice as a lethal treat for the mildly venomous serpents, an invasive species that has devastated native animal populations on the Pacific island, the BBC reported.

"The brown tree snake has had a devastating impact," Cheryl Calustro of Guam's Department of Agriculture, told the network. "Ten out of 12 native forest bird species disappeared in 30 years. The birds here evolved without predators. They were quite naive. And when the snake arrived on Guam it ate eggs, juveniles, adults. Whole generations disappeared."

And birds aren't the snakes' only victims. According to a USGS report, the snakes have caused "the extirpation of most of the native forest vertebrate species; thousands of power outages affecting private, commercial, and military activities" along with "considerable emotional trauma to residents and visitors alike."

But does that really warrant having helicopters parachute in the deadly rodents? And what if other animals get to the mice first?

"Right now we are using acetaminophen," the U.S. Agriculture Department's assistant state director Dan Vice told the BBC. "It's commonly used as a pain reliever and fever reducer in humans, but it is 100 percent lethal to all brown tree snakes."

Acetaminophen is also toxic to rodents, cats, pigs, and birds, according to a 2002 study published in the journal "Environmental Science & Technology." But according to the study's authors, "calculations and field and laboratory experiments...indicated that acetaminophen consumption was minimal" in the "nontarget" animals.

No one knows exactly how brown tree snakes (Boiga irregularis)
made their way to Guam, according to the USGS. But they're believed to have stowed away in military cargo shipped from Papua New Guinea during World War II.

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Comments

[MGarin]

10:49 AM on 03/03/2013

I can't see anything going wrong here. I for one, have often air-dropped poisoned mice to control invasive mildly poisonous snakes that have devastated native animal populations in my apartment. I mean, who hasn't?

[Joanne B]

08:56 PM on 02/27/2013

did you see the brown tree snake in the video on AOL news bite the guy holding him several times without provacation!! I say they are evil and the tylenol idea is cool with me :D

[Dutch001]

08:48 AM on 06/17/2012

On a geologic time scale, we are putting the biosphere in a blender. A probability of .0001 per year translates to near certainty in a million years. So we can try to slow the spread of exotics, but soon, geologically speaking, any species that can get someplace and survive, will.

[Bipitybopityboop]

10:32 PM on 05/17/2012

Photos please!

[FaceTheTruth00]

02:39 PM on 05/14/2012

No video?

[Llib Noswad]

08:51 AM on 05/14/2012

I wonder if the same program would work in D.C.

[MKain]

04:29 AM on 05/14/2012

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been doing this for three years. I though SNL's Weekend Update did current events?

http://www.thefloatingcityblog.com/blog/2012/5/13/brown-tree-snakes-guam-to-hawaii-to-saturday-night-live.html#entry16246278

[Libertarian5]

08:39 PM on 05/13/2012

Why not pay volunteers, say, $100 for every 1000 dead brown snakes?

[v moda]

09:19 PM on 05/13/2012

lol...$100..u cant be serious...i just spent more on bullets. plz think comments through

[Libertarian5]

09:32 PM on 05/13/2012

No bullets--samurai sword!

[bmitche]

07:52 PM on 05/13/2012

If something isn't done, they will eventually take over the island. That is frightenig.

[Ken Blackwell]

07:44 PM on 05/13/2012

whose going to teach these mice how to sky dive?

[Brant Kelsey]

08:01 PM on 05/13/2012

They'll be parachuted by the use of zip lines, hurled from the sky by the same planes carrying the snakes in their wheel-wells.

[Ken Blackwell]

08:14 PM on 05/13/2012

ok smart alec whose gonna pick up all those little litter buggin parachutes all over the island( ok it would be quite a site seeing all those little parachutes floating gracefully to earth right into the open mouths of these snakes) nevermind

[Catalina hime]

07:29 PM on 05/13/2012

Darnit, I have to go there in a few months. I really really don't want to go there now. This really sucks.

[vxenon67]

08:42 AM on 05/14/2012

Go there on vacation it is a nice place to go to. You won't even notice the snakes cause they avoid you. Nice beaches most of the time secluded and not many people, low waves, it is very warm: 90's to 77's in the morning. It is humid. The beaches are cool. Wear lotion cause you will sunburn. They have thick jungles. Mostly a military base: Air force base to the north, marines bases in the middle--off limits to the Civilians. Grey Hound racing, Duty Free shops, legal Cockfighting, nice Hotels, lots of Japanese tourists, lots of places to eat: Japanese, Filipino, Guamanian, Korean, chinese foods. Lots of full nude strip clubs and cheap brothels they call "massage parlors" usually Korean girls. Lots of fishing. Fish by the beach or hire a boat. Blue waters, clean air. Go to "Cocos Island" travel by glass bottom boat. Movie theaters. Lots of Japanese World War 2 stuff. The world's only U.S. war dog cemetary is located here. The last Japanese soldier was found hiding here and didn't know the war was over. You can see Japanese fortifications and bunkers against the U.S. military invasion.

[Catalina hime]

03:29 PM on 05/14/2012

I love Guam, this will be my 2nd time there for training. I also like snakes, I just have bad luck with snakes.

[Brant Kelsey]

07:28 PM on 05/13/2012

On a Serious note: This snake population is astounding, in the neighborhood of 13,000 snakes per square mile: That the sounds of the forest are now void of the songs of birds: And that is about as tragic as it gets:

There doesn't need to be the introduction of parachuting poisoned mice: There does need to be the Will to eradicate this invasion with an invasion of another kind.

In Rome, when the Soldiers were not fighting wars: They were used to construct parks, build public works, and other monuments to the People.

Guam, and this discussion are relevant. Guam ostensibly exists as a US protectorate because of its strategic location in the Pacific. It is principally a geography held for Military staging. And as is typical, used, exploited, with very little given back to the people. Much like the military bombed the Island of Ko'o'lawe into an arid wasteland here in Hawaii.

If I were king, I would land 30 thousand troops on the island, equipped with infra-red, and do a complete grid organized search and destroy: Followed by the introduction of Owl, and Osprey, in sufficient quantities as to hunt what remained elusive to the search:

Also, I would introduce bird species closely akin to those lost. To repopulate the wetlands and the forests. NO POISON MICE. Imagine a World void of the Songs of the Bird. We owe these folks this. And tomorrow is not too soon to begin. It's a disgrace.

[Ken Blackwell]

08:06 PM on 05/13/2012

another Brant rant gone awry- really infra-red on reptiles?

[Brant Kelsey]

08:40 PM on 05/13/2012

Good point, never thought of that: However even cold blooded their temperature will likely exceed the temperatures of their surroundings. Further study not warranted.

[Ragdraggo]

07:22 PM on 05/13/2012

So what??? Just WHY are they so "panicky" an in such an urgent hurry,, to get rid of all the Brown Tree snakes in Guam??? I mean, it's not as if a serious deadly plague (on the level of the Bubonic Plague) has stricken the island! There are thousands (millions) of venomous snakes all throughout the continental US! Think of all the Cottonmouths throughout the SouthEast US,, and all the Rattlers, Copperheads and Corol Snakes throughout the Southwestern US! The density-capita (per populated areas) is JUST as high, in the US,, as it is throughout Guam! People throughout the US,, simply watch where they step (while in those infested areas) and watch where they put their hands, and (for the most part) the careful ones (in the US) AVOID getting bit! I would think the same rule would apply for Guam. After all, you don't see wildlife officials throughout Florida (Georgia and Louisiana) on frantic missions trying to get rid of Cottonmouths (or on similar missions in Arizona,, trying to get rid of Rattlesnakes) do you? So WHY (in Guam) do they feel they MUST get rid of all the Brown Tree snakes? My advice: Give it up. Brown Tree snakes are part of the natural inhabitant!

[Brant Kelsey]

07:45 PM on 05/13/2012

You are so far off the mark I can't even believe it........First of all Guam is not Louisiana, you could probably put about 200 Guam's in Louisiana. Secondly, imagine moving through your cotton mouth, crocodile, alligator infested swamps, without the sight, or the sound of the Birds. And throw into the mix, that your little island of Louisiana, was populated by a military presence from another country, that, like the brown tree snake, IS NOT INDIGENOUS OR A NATURAL "INHABITANT"...........and that's precisely the problem. More importantly is this could be rectified, not by poison mice: But by the will of reasoned men who visited this problem with the attention it warrants. Birds my brother are an integral form of life on earth, to live here, without their song is unimaginable to me. I awake to them every morning, their song brings me peace, it brings me connection with what is real about being human. If I were a resident of Guam this would be a source of great sadness to me.

[Ragdraggo]

09:12 PM on 05/13/2012

The point of my original post is that the government (Natl. WildLife Committee,, Dept. of Fish & Game,, whoever) should NOT be doing all this (trial and error) experimental spending on excess financial resources (i.e. poison-laced mice) in "Hail-Mary" attempts to kill off a few Brown-Tree snakes in Guam! This could end up being much more wasteful than profitable! The BEST course of action would be for each and every "resident" of Guam to be as "vigilant" as possible (while roaming around), AND (in the event,, when/if,, one encounters a Brown-Tree Snake),, Number ONE,,, exercise as much caution as possible to AVOID getting bit,,,, and Number TWO,,, ("IF" possible,, and if resources are at hand),, DO all you CAN do,,to KILL the snake. In regards to the "dying" bird population,,, that is just an "unfortunate" thing,, in which unfortunately,, appears there's not much one could do about,, at this late date.

[Ken Blackwell]

09:57 PM on 05/13/2012

you do see wild life officials trying to address the boa and python problem in Florida, cotton mouths copperheads and rattle snakes have allways been in the south- brown snakes in Guam were simply not there till after WW 2- the article said 10 out of 12 native forest birds are gone- there are also other examples of extreme wild life management reactions like the spotted bass that has ruined fisheries in the upper Ohio valley- if the brown tree snake were part of the islands eco system there would be no problem- it's not really the people of Guam that concerns the wildlife officials people can and do watch where they step or put their hands but the birds in trees with nests lose eggs, chicks or adult birds

[frankfv8]

07:19 PM on 05/13/2012

Peacocks are the best snake killers in the natural world with using poisoin and mice yech , what about the other animals that eat mice??

[Brant Kelsey]

07:59 PM on 05/13/2012

I like that a lot. Lets forgo the advances of the Pea-brains and their brigades of poisoned mice, and bring in the Peacocks............that works for me.

[Ken Blackwell]

08:21 PM on 05/13/2012

i like it to ! than the Guamites could learn to play football and the University of Guam could be the "fight'n Peacocks" and play in th PAC 12 or whatever it is now

[matdough]

06:44 PM on 05/13/2012

Don't be playing with my snake !