2,000 mice were parachuted over Air Force Base in Guam to eradicate brown tree snakes

Dec 3, 2013 21:41 GMT  ·  By
The brown tree snakes population was out of control reaching almost 2 million individuals
   The brown tree snakes population was out of control reaching almost 2 million individuals

In an attempt to eradicate the brown tree snakes that infested Guam in the last years, officials decided to parachute 2,000 mice pupped with painkillers with tiny cardboard parachutes over U.S. Territory of Guam.

The invasive reptiles caused damages of millions of dollars in both commercial and repair losses over the last few years. The species arrived on the territory with a cargo shipment in the late 1950s and spread at an insane rate since.

The U.S. tried several ways of getting rid of the pesky reptiles but not even snake traps, trained dogs or hunting inspectors could control the growing population. The serpent population is at an estimated 2 million individuals for the entire island.

In order to find an efficient way of reducing the number of the reptiles, a U.S. Program was founded especially with this purpose. After investing millions of dollars into the program, they came to the conclusion that the brown tree snakes have a weak spot – Tylenol or acetaminophen, that even in the smallest quantity, can kill them.

Another weak spot for the snakes proved to be their favorite meal – mice, and after stuffing the rodents with painkillers, they were parachuted from the sky over Anderson Air Force Base. A tree snake can die from ingesting as little as 80 milligrams of tylenol, and the mice were pumped with more than that.

Helicopters filled with dead mice flew close to the ground over the forest areas dumping the trap meal for the snakes. The mice had cardboard and green tissue paper as parachutes preventing them from getting crushed to the ground.

“The cardboard is heavier than the tissue paper and opens up in an inverted horseshoe. It then floats down and ultimately hangs up in the forest canopy. Once it's hung in the forest canopy, snakes have an opportunity to consume the bait,” Dan Vice, assistant biologist for the Agriculture Department, told KUAM.

Wildlife workers will track the progress made with the trap rodents by some tiny data-transmitting radios implanted in the parachuted mice. If the method proves successful, it will be repeated until the brown tree snake population will be under control.