2,000 Rodents Filled with Drug Airdropped To Kill Invasive Brown Tree Snakes in Guam

The invasive brown tree snake that was accidentally introduced 60 years back continues to be a major threat to economy and ecology of Guam. In order to put an end to the damage caused by the invasive snakes, the biologists in Guam have airdropped nearly 2,000 dead mice injected with toxic substance onto the Anderson Air Force Base.

 To get rid of the brown tree snakes that have caused millions of dollars in damage during the past decade in the U.S. territory of Guam, the biologists dropped dead rodents placed tiny cardboard parachutes on to the Anderson air Force Base, Guam.

The rodents were dropped over two 136 acre plots and some of the mice were also fixed with tiny radios through which the biologists could determine whether the rat was eaten by a snake. But this feast for the snakes is going to cost them their life because the rodents were injected with the 80 milligrams of acetaminophen, an ingredient present in painkiller Tylenol. The snakes though are very sensitive to the drug.

The snakes aren't harmful to humans as their bite transfers venom in small doses.But they do cause power outages on the island.

The drug-laced mice should not affect other species, said U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife service's biologist Dan Vice, who has worked on snake eradication for more than a decade. "The risk to nontargets is slight," Vice said. "It would take 500 baits to kill a pig (or dog and) 15 baits to kill a cat," source Associated Press.

A similar pilot project was held in 2010, where 280 mice injected with concentrated acetaminophen, were airdropped and were used as baits for snakes. This drug disrupts the oxygen carrying ability of haemoglobin in the snake. On gulping down the rodent, the snakes initially enter into trauma and then die.

"Every time there is a technique that is tested and shows promise, we jump on that bandwagon and promote it and help out and facilitate its implementation," Tino Aguon, acting chief of the U.S. Agriculture Department's wildlife resources office for Guam, told NBC station KUAM of Hagatna.

Apart from drug-filled mice, the biologists are taking several measures to curb the population of the invasive brown tree snake. They have fixed several snake traps, snake sniffing dogs and snake hunting inspectors, source HNGN.

If this technique works, the team plans to increase number of the times they are done and will also conduct it on a larger scale.