Guam, Tylenol, helicopters

[zonbonzovi]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-govt-air-drop-toxic-065326367.html

 

[Shrike]

Brown tree snakes love Tylenol. They hate Nuprin.

 

[Galapoheros]

I have mixed concerns about things like this. It seems that very carefully choosing a predator to control the snake population would be better, something that would have a native predator to keep that introduced predator of the snake in check, if there is such a native predator. I know things like that can become a mess though, not knowing the unknown. The US has introduced many things to control other pests in the US so it's not that it's so "taboo" today. Sometimes job security directs decision making and that's rampant in government, I know that from working with the gov for years. I sure see that it would be a really bad deal for that snake to get an established population going in Hawaii with all the unique birds there.

 

[zonbonzovi]

I wonder the very same. The US track record on unintended introduction is...spotty. I wonder how carefully those mice are being produced and if there is anything else potentially devastating that may be spread from "Operation Mus Droppings"?

Anyone else see potential for a brown snake leather cottage industry on the island...hmmm? Investors apply within

 

[The Snark]

Zon and Gal, I think you are spot on. The U.S. Gov in conjunction with the U.S. Military (Guam being a military base with an island attached in their eyes), sounds like a recipe for disaster. I got a friend on Guam, a science teacher and part time naturalist. I'm going to ask his take on this.

 

[zonbonzovi]

I'd like to hear what they have to say, Snark. I know some transplants but they mostly regurgitate the stuff about snakes in transformers, etc.

 

[Tleilaxu]

Ok so in a nutshell, we have the US government feeding dead mice to wild snakes that primarily eat birds and actually think this is going to work?

How typical....

 

[Malhavoc's]

Just finished the article, and I got some key points of interest

Hand dropping 1, by one, dead mice with a floatation device (parachute) over a military base area, stuffed with pain killers.

It took them ten years to develop this idea some of americas top scientists...

.....that is ALOT of the goverments time, and the tax payers money to an idea that seems schemed up by a five year old and his first RC helicopter.

 

[Introvertebrate]

I heard that Midway Island is so overrun with birds, that they can only land planes after dark. If they could somehow transport Guam's tree snakes to Midway.................

 

[Anonymity82]

Ok so in a nutshell, we have the US government feeding dead mice to wild snakes that primarily eat birds and actually think this is going to work?

How typical....

My thoughts exactly!

 

[The Snark]

Well, my friend on Guam is unaware of the snake problem. While he has only lived there for 35 years, he tends to be an average Merikan, almost completely oblivious to the environment around him. So still a big ???

Tylenol laced rats. Airdropped, one by one, acetaminophen laced rats. U.S. Gov produced in conjunction with the U.S. military acetaminophen laced air dropped with parachute devices attached deceased rodents.
How do they screw me, let me count the ways.
-Parachutes: $20 each? Testing of deceleration effectiveness, ~$100,000?
-Rodents: $5 each? Humane euthenasia: $1 each?
-Snake lethal acetaminophen dosage testing: $100,000?
-Acetaminophen snake lethal dosage: $6 each? (Anyone remember when M16 ammunition initially sold to the military during the Vietnam war cost $12 per round?)
-Rodent delivery mechanism: Helicopter- $2,000 per hour? C-130, $4,000 per hour?
-Efficacy survey: $100,000 per year?

What am I missing?

Alternative solution. Import 50 S.E. Asian hill tribe people on an all expense paid 3 month holiday. Pay them 10 cents per snake caught. Permit them to eat the snakes or export them to China (to keep the old yang up).