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| Characteristics of a brown tree snake, one of the invasive species in Guam. |
How would you feel if you were baited with drugged food? To the brown tree snake, known scientifically as Boiga irregularis, this would mean certain death. Native to the northern and eastern coasts of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and miscellaneous Pacific islands, this species has made its way onto foreign regions, the most serious of outbreaks in Guam. With the overabundance of prey and a lack of natural predators in Guam, Brown tree snakes reached unprecedented numbers, and grew from the norm of six feet in its native land to over ten feet in Guam, causing countless problems for the country.1
The brown tree snake is one of the primary threats to Guam's biodiversity. Massive ecological damage has been done to the island's bird populations, bringing 10 of the 12 native species to extinction and severely reducing the numbers of the other two.2 Significant changes enveloped the forests as the few surviving birds flocked to more urbanized areas. With the declination of birds, there were less predators for insects, so they rapidly grew in numbers and overfed on agricultural and native plant species. Another consequence with the disappearance of the birds was that plants that relied on seed dispersal and pollination were overtaken by other species, narrowing the composition of the forest. A natural disaster would easily overwhelm the vegetation due to the lack of biodiversity in the region.
A general trend in the data is that the size of the brown tree snake population is directly proportional to the number of electrical outages in Guam. If left unattended, the frequency and intensity of damage done by brown tree snakes would increase.
Until now, brown tree snakes have posed a serious threat to Guam's ecosystem, damaging both animals and plants alike.3 Subsidized by the U.S. Departments of Defense and Interior, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services have developed a method to combat the overwhelming invasive population. By injecting dead mice with 80 milligrams of concentrated acetaminophen, a drug found in Tylenol that helps relieve fevers and pains, it effectively alters them into biological landmines for brown tree snakes. It usually takes about 60 hours for the drug to kill an adult brown tree snake, during which it plays out its role, which is to upset the ability for the snakes' blood to carry oxygen.4 The laced mice are loaded on a plane and released over the infested area. From the time of deployment to the time of ingestion, the mice are hooked up to a mechanism designed to tangle within the upper branches of the trees, out of harm's way for nontarget species, but within reaches for the snakes.
Even with all these seemingly cunning ways of eliminating brown tree snakes, at best the efforts will only control the population. Haldre Rogers, a biologist at the University of Washington, says, "It's another arrow in our quiver... Unfortunately, we don't have the silver bullet for Brown tree snakes yet." In the future, researchers at USDA hope to develop a non-biological alternative, as the current model attracts decomposers and unwanted pests. However, as researching and testing biocontrols is budget-heavy, it may be awhile before Guam's biodiversity fully recovers from the terrible terrible damage that brown tree snakes brought upon the island.
Sources:
● "Snake Plague on Guam Impacts Trees." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25
Sept. 2010. <http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/
2008/08/snake-plague-on-guam-impacts-t.html>.
●"Spotlight On An Invasive Species: The Brown Tree Snake and Its Devastation of
Guam." Bright Hub. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/
41526.aspx?p=2>.
● "The Brown Tree Snake." United States Department of Agriculture - Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_wsbtsnake.html>.
● Than, Ker. "Drug-filled Mice Airdropped Over Guam to Kill Snakes." National
Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2010.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/
100924-science-animals-guam-brown-tree-snakes-mouse-tylenol/>.
● "The Brown Treesnake." US Geological Survey. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.mesc.usgs.gov/resources/education/bts/bioeco/btsnake.asp>
● "Electrical Problems Caused by the Brown Treesnake." US Geological Survey. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 26 Sept. 2010. <http://www.fort.usgs.gov/resources/education/
bts/impacts/electrical.asp>.
Commented Blogs:
Denise Gabuya
Dora Lam
Heyy! I think your blog provides a lot of interesting facts about the brown tree snakes. Although the population of the snakes is far more than the other species, I find it morally wrong that the USDA uses dead mice as baits to eliminate them. I don't agree on the way society is handling the issue. First they use lab rats for experiments, now they drug the mice and use them as baits to lure the snakes in and kill them. I think that if they would want to eliminate the population of the snakes, they should think of a better idea that won't harm any other species besides the snakes themselves.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing, I really like how you added a graph to expand your idea on how the snakes are affecting the ecosystem. I also noticed that it is a boom and bust graph where the area started out with a small amount of snakes and then it gradually expanded into a larger group. When the large group of snakes ran out of food, they died off and then the species would reproduce for more food for the snakes and its predators. The cycle then starts off again where the snakes would eat the species and run out of food.
Very well written! It was in depth and a real eye opener concerning infestation and brown snakes. Though I don't think it is right to use dead mice as poisonous bait, I feel that something should be done about the situation. I liked your opening statement about being baited with drugged food.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm looking into your post too deeply but like these snakes, the human population is writhing around the world like a virus with nothing to stop us. It's awful.
Awesome post!
Denise Gabuya
Ms. Saran
Section 01
Agreed with the previous two posters. Even though they are "benefiting" the environment by eliminating these brown tree snakes, drugging them seems to be very gruelsome. Instead of killing them, couldn't they just relocate them to another ecosystem where brown tree snakes will be able to balance the biodiversity? I'm also wondering what would happen if they unmeaningly killed too many snakes.
ReplyDeleteThe information on your blog is very organized and you had a good use of pictures in relations to the information. You should use more pictures next time though.
This blog post was written extemely well, and the facts were organized strategically for the readers to gain a general underestanding of the situation in Guam concerning the brown snakes.I enjoyed how you gave the reader an idea of the disasterous impact brown tree snakes have on the biodiversity in Guam. In addition, I believe the graph was a helpful visual aid that effectively supported your facts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comments that drugging the snakes is cruel and disturbings.
After reading this blog post, I have some questions. First, how did the brown tree snakes invade the foreign reagions? What changes or events caused this to occur? (For example, a change in climate in their natural habitat, or a shipping crate carried a few snakes?)
Second, what happens to the carcasses of the snakes body? Is the drug bio-degradable? Would decomposers be contaminated as well? Will it seep into the soil and further damage the plant life?
I think that your blog was very insightful, as it targeted two problems. One being the infestation of brown tree snakes, and the other being humans trying to wipe them out. Unfortunately, in this situation there would probably be no good endings. Whether or not it is morally right or wrong, the fact remains that the Brown Tree Snakes are destroying nature's balance.
ReplyDeleteI am worried that if the current method attracts many decomposers and unwanted pests, then there will be a new force that will upset natures balance.
Very informative blog Brian! I have to admit, I didn't really know much about Brown Tree snakes and their present situation, but your post gave me a lot of facts on their current state.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I wouldn't be comfortable with an infestation of Brown Tree snakes in my area, I think that what these organizations are doing to combat the overwhelming population is wrong.
First of all, they are injecting drugs into mice. Mice would already be eaten by snakes anyways, but infusing drugs in them to kill the snakes is even sadder. Secondly,I think they could find a less cruel way to get rid of these Brown Tree snakes. Perhaps one that does not involve using drugs and other animals as bait.
I really enjoyed the visuals in your blog, reading about the characteristics of these creatures and also the graph. I thought it was a really nice touch to your blog and to the point that you were making.
Nice blog Brian, it was very informative and you touched on a little known topic. It's quite interesting how acetaminophen (which is so helpful to humans) can be deadly to animals. There was only one thing that I didn't understand. In the graph you put it shows that these snakes cause power outages. How do they do that?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKudos to you Brian for bringing to light an issue which I personally did not know of until reading your entry. The fact that brown tree snake infestation in Guam is on the rise seems terrible enough, but to counter it by lacing mice with acetaminophen sounds a tad bit irrational to me. Furthermore, the invasive quality of this tree snakes takes me back when looking at the number of extinctions you presented, it is quite the marvel. Contrary to USDA’s method of handling the infestation, I think it is a matter of the exponential growth pattern ecosystems face all the time. The snakes thrive exponentially for a short period of time, but the ecosystem will correct itself. The snakes will eventually die off due to the lack of equilibrium presented in the particular ecosystem, and that is that. I believe what USDA is doing is in vain, and sparked by short sited gains. Is the environmental effect of tree snakes towards humans as substantial as it sounds? In my opinion, I don’t think so because of the lack of information provided on the topic at hand, ie. Shady numbers on electrical outages. All in all this entry was quite informative, and I look forward to viewing more in the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog Brian; well worded and very informative. It's a quite an ingenious and creative solution to such a difficult problem. I'm amazed by the whole concept of turning mice into, "biological landmines," to combat the snake population. The fact that this will only affect snake populations is also another amazing factor. Great find.
ReplyDeleteDealing with nature always leads directly to a question of ethics. Is it right to kill off the invasive species to reestablish the ecosystem's equilibrium? Honestly this isn't a question we want to answer so instead we choose to act and less likely (yet inversely as necessary with this course of action) deal with the consequences, even if they aren't effecting us. Hopefully the people in charge will make sure to cover their tracks once they've meddled with mother nature, but with the tight budget and heavy damages the probabilities don't seem so great. None the less this article brought to light another issue we face, and did so quite excellently. Good job.
ReplyDelete