26 Mar 2019

Dead mice airdropped in Guam for snake control

4:36 pm on 26 March 2019

Authorities in Guam are conducting air drops of dead mice to continue efforts to combat the invasive brown tree snake.

Brown tree snake in Guam

Brown tree snake in Guam Photo: By Pavel Kirillov from St.Petersburg, Russia - Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis), CC BY-SA 2.0

The Marianas Variety reported that the bait airdrop was conducted by US military and Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.

The system of dropping drug-laced dead mice had been part of a years-long campaign to reduce the presence of the invasive brown tree snake in Guam.

This pest is threatening Guam's native birds such as the sihek, or Guam Micronesian kingfisher; and ko'ko', or the Guam rail.