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PACIFIC DAILY NEWS (Guam) 21 November 05 Tylenol-stuffed mice parachute into Guam's snake-filled jungle (Joe Murphy)
"Geronimo!" That's what the tiny, pink, baby mouse yelled as he dove off a helicopter, pulled his ripcord and headed toward the ground and the waiting mouth of a rat snake.
At least that's the way the scenario is portrayed by a couple of Navy-type civilians, as they tell me about the efforts being made to eliminate, or at least reduce, the number of snakes on the island.
Parachuting mice. That somehow seems like a Guam endeavor. The ripcord and "Geronimo" are just figments of my imagination, though. They seem like a nice touch.
What brought all this up was a lengthy story in the Stars and Stripes, which reported that military installations across the country are battling wild hogs, snakes and other trouble-making species. The story was from a report released by the National Wildlife Federation.
The report noted that: "Terrorists or natural disasters jump to mind when one pictures threats to military readiness and homeland security." In reality, the emphasis was on Guam, and our longstanding snake problem.
What other problems do invasive species cause? Well, in Central Florida, the Avon Park Air Force Range people are constantly battling wild hogs, who tend to rip up soil along the runways, attracting large birds to the insects from the turned-up ground, creating hazards. At Fort McCoy in Western Wisconsin, exotic blister-causing plants have been inadvertently brought in.
In my own humble opinion, I think the snake problem on Guam has been grossly exaggerated. Still, I can see how the military feels about snakes. After all, the military has been blamed for bringing the snakes to Guam to begin with, probably in the closing days of World War II, when the island was home to hundreds of thousands of Marines, sailors and airmen, and hundreds of ships and aircraft. The brown tree snake is thought to have arrived on Guam on a cargo ship from Manus Island, part of New Britain.
The Wildlife report claims Guam is infested with more than 2 million brown tree snakes, or 12,000 per square mile. You can imagine what these alleged statistics do for the potential visitor to Guam. He imagines that he would be walking knee-deep in snakes. I heard this view expressed a couple of times by people who should know better in a recent trip to the states.
Don't get me wrong. I know we have snakes on Guam. I have personally dispatched five or six myself with a machete. One four-foot-long critter crawled in bed with my wife, biting her on the thumb. But I also maintain that the average visitor or tourist would never see a snake during his stay on the island.
I checked with a Navy official to get an update and the man said: "There are still plenty of snakes on Guam, but as the food supply gets scarce, the snakes tend to be smaller and smaller."
I asked him about the parachute story and he confirmed it. He said that the way to kill snakes, they have discovered, is to give them Tylenol. Great. But the real trick is trying to get the snakes to take a Tylenol pill or two. So, the Navy, being innovative, gave mice Tylenol. Then, these loaded, spiked tiny critters were taken aboard a helicopter and parachuted down to the jungle.
Tylenol-stuffed mice parachute into Guam's snake-filled jungle

have you ever had to see the pain in an animals eyes in acute renal failure, thats what tylenol will do to a dog or cat and im guessing thats how it will kill a snake too! it may even take longer due to the slower body functions of herp. please tell me this is not our army doing this, or shrub (little bush LOL) will have a fired up redhead on every station that will hear me, and what about the poor mice (yes i use them for food too, but i try to be as humane as possible even then) and any other animal thats decided to eat the mice. GRRRRRR, im going to go now before i scream!!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!
here for good
1.0.0 canadian homosapien
2.0.0 dogs
0.2.0 cats
1.2.0 boas
1.1.0 ball pythons
0.0.1 albino corn
2.0.0 western hognose
1.0.0 russian tort.
1.0.0 vield cam
1.0.0 sav monitor
0.0.1 nile monitor
1.2.0 beardies
3.1.0 leos
0.0.1 pygmy hedgehogs
0.1.1 parrots
(and some fish and stuff)

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