Dead Mice Are Going To Be Dropped On Guam

[pallidin]

Interesting thread.

[Sundew]

It is quite true that wherever man goes, animals and plants follow, some intentionally, some accidentally. In this case the Brown Tree Snake was almost certainly a stowaway. Guam like many tropical islands had a number of endemic birds, as well as those found on nearby islands. Most have now been exterminated from the wild by the snake, there are only three native bird species left currently. Fortunately for those no longer found on the island, many have been the subject of captive breeding programs and some have been released on suitable nearby islands, but some are extinct and their future looks pretty bleak for the rest unless the BTS can be eliminated from Guam. Not reduced, eliminated.

If acetaminophen is highly toxic to the snakes then this is a reasonable approach to kill them. Lab mice are relatively cheap, as is the toxin. By dropping them with snags so they get caught in the trees they insure that an arboreal snake will more likely find them than a ground dwelling animal. But the fact is there are few native animals on Guam left anyway. The one worry might be that the native crow, of which I believe there is still a small wild population, might be attracted to the mice. Hopefully they have tempted captive crows with mice (obviously with no toxin) to see if they would be a worry.

These drops should be done monthly for several years until they can eliminate the snakes. They must kill off all adults before they reach breeding age and continue until all juveniles reach adult size. Then at least the birds can be reintroduced with a fighting chance at survival.

Guam is a military and commercial air hub. I landed there on the way to S.E. Asia years ago. The snake's high population density on the island makes it a very real possibility of individuals stowing away once more. Hawaii's endemic birds, which are already under pressure from disease and introduced bird species, would be under threat, and with inter-island flights they would quickly spread from Oahu to the rest of the chain. Several BTS have been found alive or dead in the wheel wells of planes landing in Hawaii that originated in Guam. So the clock is ticking....

Edited February 24, 2013 by Sundew

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

These snakes are a pest they live on the east coast of Australia from NSW to NT they are a nocturnal snake that can be very aggressive when confronted.It is a rear-fanged colubrid, possessing two small, grooved fangs at the rear of the mouth.Due to the placement of the fangs and their grooved rather than hollow architecture, the venom is difficult to convey into a bite on a human, and thus is only delivered in small doses. The venom appears to be weakly neurotoxic and possibly cytotoxic with localized effects that are trivial for adult humans; serious medical consequences have been limited to children, who are more susceptible because of their low body mass.The snake is not considered dangerous to an adult human^. The venom seems to be primarily used to subdue lizards, which can be more easily positioned in the rear of the mouth for venom delivery.

[King Fluffs]

Some person is going to end up eating those mice and killing themselves...

[AsteroidX]

Why dont they hunt the snakes like we do the everglades pythons. Its actually good business. and snakes are a delicacy for many. Poison just takes away from the environment. Oh I forgot were too cool to repair the damage the damage we created ourselves.

[danielost]

Invasive species can be introduced without man's involvement. On the east is a flock of geese(don't know type) that was blown off course from europe.

What will happen is cats, dogs, and some of te birds they are to save will eat the mice and be killed too.

[PhoenixBird88]

I cant see this working out as they hoped...Im a hobby herpetologist and snake breeder, I know for a fact snakes dont typically eat prekilled prey. It usually takes a lot of time and training to get a snake used to eating prekilled. As danielost stated, this will be more damaging to other species such as birds of prey, cats, dogs, etc...

[Mikami]

That'd be a pretty bizarre sight... a million falling dead mice..

[rashore]

I hope they are using biodegrade materials for this... I can't imagine littering the treetops with a million little parachutes is a good thing, especially if they are made of materials that don't break down fairly quickly.

[ufonuts]

I believe the "Laced Mice" are being dropped over Guam to reduce the population of the Guamanian. Especially since one of their favorite Delicacies are Minced Mice, Mice Tails and Mice Stew.

[Der]

Coming from you, not very.

I am not saying anything that about 99% of the educated population feel. If you can not see how we are destroying the environment, ourselves, and especially the future for our children, and grand children, I do not know what to tell you. It is all fact, not my opinion.

Hoping for a plague, or disaster to cut our population down may sound ridiculous to some, but not me. Just how I feel every time I see the News, or open up my home page.....Starving families, homeless people, lack of jobs, greed, holy wars, police states, psychological mass killings, oil spills, animals going extinct, etc,etc,etc.....

Aside from me saying the plague thing, I hope you can see how we, as humans, are destroying countless things, and there are just to many of us to go around.

So your conclusion that 99% of people are a plage and destroy, kill, are greed, etc. comes from watching the news? The news that usually cover only tragedies and accidents because that's the only kind of stuff that people care to hear about when reading the newspaper or watching the news?

[Frank Merton]

One presumes that all these things have been studied and resolved before they would launch such a venture. Either that or they are desperate (these are poisonous snakes after all).

[rhc]

I can see this becoming a HUGE problem down the road. Poision getting into water supplies ect. - and aren’t rats a delicacy over there?

[Sakari]

So your conclusion that 99% of people are a plage and destroy, kill, are greed, etc. comes from watching the news? The news that usually cover only tragedies and accidents because that's the only kind of stuff that people care to hear about when reading the newspaper or watching the news?

No, from first hand. I have not watched or read the News ( in detail ) in over a year, to depressing.

And, from reading Scientific research, and reading about economic studies, and studies on about anything regarding nature.

[danielost]

I can see this becoming a HUGE problem down the road. Poision getting into water supplies ect. - and aren’t rats a delicacy over there?

Can you say lawsuit.

[The Unseen]

I know one thing though:

ALL HUMANS. BACK TO AFRICA. NAO.

What the heck does that have to do with snakes in Guam?Not one stinking thing.D.A.

[danielost]

One presumes that all these things have been studied and resolved before they would launch such a venture. Either that or they are desperate (these are poisonous snakes after all).

Yea right. This is the government we're talking about.