U.S. government bombs Guam with frozen mice to kill snakes

[GeckoJosh]

In a spectacularly creative effort to rid Guam of an invasive species, the US Department of Agriculture is planning to 'bomb' the island's rainforests with dead frozen mice laced with acetaminophen. The mice-bombs are meant to target the brown tree snake, an invasive species which has ravaged local wildlife, and angered local residents, since arriving in the 1940s.

Read more: U.S. government bombs Guam with frozen mice to kill snakes
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[Ramsayi]

So rock hard mice to kill BTS's eh? I guess if it hits them in the head then why not.

 

[Tassie97]

it will kill all snakes will it not?

 

[GeckoJosh]

it will kill all snakes will it not?

Guam does not have any native snakes, but the native mangrove monitors and various other wildlife will no doubt suffer casualties

 

[SteveNT]

I dont think they had any before the BTTs arrived.

 

[dihsmaj]

I dont think they had any before the BTTs arrived.

''Brown Tree Terror snakes''?

 

[Tassie97]

oh ok my bad yer surely other things will eat all this "free"food

 

[junglepython2]

oh ok my bad yer surely other things will eat all this "free"food

The idea is to keep the baits in the canopies, they have tried with parachutes before but I take it this failed.

 

[Wally]

That's taking air superiority a bit far.

 

[MrBredli]

Find a commercial value for the snakes and they'll disappear in no time. Surely you could make something out of their skin, or use them for cooking or 'medicinal' purposes. Put a $2 price tag on their head and humans will hunt them to extinction.

Put a 25c price tag on Cane Toads and I doubt they would be the problem they are today. Problem is, who will pay 25c per toad? Don't spend millions searching for a biological weapon against them, spend $50000 investigating ways cane toads can be used commercially!

 

[GeckoJosh]

Find a commercial value for the snakes and they'll disappear in no time. Surely you could make something out of their skin, or use them for cooking or 'medicinal' purposes. Put a $2 price tag on their head and humans will hunt them to extinction.

Put a 25c price tag on Cane Toads and I doubt they would be the problem they are today. Problem is, who will pay 25c per toad? Don't spend millions searching for a biological weapon against them, spend $50000 investigating ways cane toads can be used commercially!

The main issue with putting a price tag on Cane Toads is people will start breeding them intentionally

 

[Jeffa]

Find a commercial value for the snakes and they'll disappear in no time. Surely you could make something out of their skin, or use them for cooking or 'medicinal' purposes. Put a $2 price tag on their head and humans will hunt them to extinction.

Put a 25c price tag on Cane Toads and I doubt they would be the problem they are today. Problem is, who will pay 25c per toad? Don't spend millions searching for a biological weapon against them, spend $50000 investigating ways cane toads can be used commercially!

Apparently they make a great organic fertiliser.

 

[Fuscus]

... with dead frozen mice laced with acetaminophen....

At least they won't have headaches

 

[benjamind2010]

One stark reminder as to why the vast majority of exotic fauna are not allowed into this country. Most importantly, Australia is an island-type ecosystem which is more sensitive to introduced species. I'd imagine some species of snakes would cause serious problems if their numbers ever became significant in the wild here. Colubrids would be the type of snakes to be very careful of since they have very limited representation in Australia - eg. corn/rat snakes.

 

[Bluetongue1]

Good old Yankee knowhow... when all else fails, bomb the crap out the place.
Seriously though, does it mention anywhere whether they have followed the normally mandatory trialling on a selected area to determine both the effectiveness on the target species and the effects on non-target species? Secondly, I know of no baiting program that has been effective in eliminating a target species over a significant area. At best you get a significant reduction in numbers which can only be maintained with regular baiting.

Benjamin, it might seem logical but it does not work that way. Groups not found or under represented in the Australian fauna are no more or less likely to establish as feral populations than relatives of well established groups. It comes down to the characteristics of the individual species. We have a country full of herbivores, yet rabbits managed to establish. We already had a native dog as an apex predator yet foxes, cats and domestic dogs have gone feral and established. A couple of websites worth browsing...
http://www.feral.org.au/pestsmart/new-and-emerging/risk/risk-assessment-list/
Risk assessment model for the import and keeping of exotic vertebrates in Australia - DAFF

Blue

 

[Fuscus]

Good old Yankee knowhow... when all else fails, bomb the crap out the place.

Bombing is just the sensationalist name for aerial baiting

Seriously though, does it mention anywhere whether they have followed the normally mandatory trialling on a selected area to determine both the effectiveness on the target species and the effects on non-target species? Secondly, I know of no baiting program that has been effective in eliminating a target species over a significant area. At best you get a significant reduction in numbers which can only be maintained with regular baiting.

Its unusual for a newspaper article to be incomplete
from wikipedia

When utilizing a precisely defined treated plot with results corrected for immigration and emigration, the additive effect of both acetaminophen and mice usage shows a 0% survival rate of the brown tree snake. In the study, 80 mg of acetaminophen were placed into mice carrions. [SUP][14][/SUP] In addition, one study showed that increasing inter-trap spacing would not only increase efficiency, but also not compromise efficacy as 20, 30, and 40 tin long perimeter trap lines were compared and no difference was found. [SUP][18][/SUP]Another study echoed the aforementioned notion of increasing inter-trap spacing

Risk assessment http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/02pubs/john021.pdf (May be a hazard to cats )

Also has anyone bothered to look at the date of the news article, I cannot find any follow up so don't even know if it went ahead


And guam has another problem Little fire ants found in total of six areas | Pacific Daily News | guampdn.com

 

[junglepython2]

This one is also worth a read, and dated 2011.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/11pubs/mathies111.pdf