Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on Guam’s jungle canopy. They are scientists’ prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake.
Most of Guam’s native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island’s thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on Guam now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.
My first thought was: “Will snakes eat a DEAD mouse?”
The strategy takes advantage of the snake’s two big weaknesses. Unlike most snakes, brown tree snakes are happy to eat prey they didn’t kill themselves, and they are highly vulnerable to acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.
Interesting, I’ve never heard of a scavenging snake. Also this tid-bit is interesting!
To keep the mice bait from dropping all the way to the ground, where it could be eaten by other animals or attract insects as they rot, researchers have developed a flotation device with streamers designed to catch in the branches of the forest foliage, where the snakes live and feed.
Experts say the impact on other species will be minimal, particularly since the snakes have themselves wiped out the birds that might have been most at risk.
I’ll be interested to see if it works as well as they officials think it will.
Thanks to Farmdad for sharing this story!
“acetaminophen, which is harmless to humans.”
It is not harmless, max label dosage is 4 grams per day, and liver failure has been observed at doses as low as 6 g per day.
It will certainly be festive-looking, with the trees draped with streamers bearing dead mice.
(And the insects will find the mice no matter where they end up…)