Guam // Current TV

U.S. To Air Drop Toxic Mice To Fight Snake Invasion

Guam is being overrun by millions of snakes. The U.S. Government hopes air dropping drugged, dead mice can solve the problem.

By Judd Legum on Feb 22, 2013 at 2:30 pm

Brown tree snakes came to Guam, naturally, on a plane (and on boats). In the 60 years since they arrived, the Brown Tree Snake has “ate almost all the birds.” There are only a few hundred birds left on the island.

The decimation of the bird population, in turn, has lead to an explosion in the spider population. During rainy season there are “40 times more webs” on Guam than on nearby islands.

The snakes — which can grow to 10 feet long — have also been “biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines.” The poisoned mice targeting the snakes with be attached to “little parachutes” which the hopes that they get caught up in the trees where the snakes live.

The National Wildlife Research Center is working on developing a more sophisticated solution:

“As a first step in development of an artificial attractant, NWRC scientists successfully characterized the odor of dead and decomposing mice. The next step will be to develop a suitable matrix in which this “mouse essence” can be embedded. Chemical cues involved in brown treesnake behavior, however, are complex and cues that elicit strong responses in the laboratory often have diminished effects in the field. So far, artificial matrix compounds as diverse as tofu, plaster-of-paris, and gelatin have shown promise as attractive lures but snakes have shown only limited interest.”

Why is so much effort being poured into solving this problem? The Brown Tree snake could be headed to Hawaii next. Despite extensive screening efforts, “eight brown tree snakes have been found on Oahu since 1981, hitch-hiking on aircraft from Guam.” An economic analysis found that proliferation of the Brown Tree Snake in Hawaii could cost over 2 billion annually from “from medical incidents, power outages, and decreases in tourism.”

The problem illustrates the substantial economic and health risks posed by invasive species in an increasingly global economy. Other risks include the Emerald ash borer on imported Valentine’s Day flowers, the brown marmorated stink bug on citrus fruit and killer algae that grows in tropical fish tanks.Guam is being overrun by millions of snakes. The U.S. Government hopes air dropping... more

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U.S. to move 4,700 Marines from Japan to Guam: reports

Tokyo and Washington have agreed to move 4,700 Marines from the Japanese island of... more

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Shanghaid in Shanghai

This is one of my favorite stories my grandfather tells of his military service.

Shanghaid in Shanghai
By Ron Turner

We sailed aboard the USS J C BRECKENRIDGE from San Diego somewhere around the end of Jan. first of Feb. 1947. A whole bunch of Marines, fresh out of boot camp, headed for China, stopping at a few islands in the Pacific along the way. We first sailed up the coast to San Francisco and picked up some Navy personnel and service dependents. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time and sailing under it was impressive.

It was a couple days of rough sailing to Hawaii. It was best not to stand along the railing at the exit from the mess hall. Guys had trouble holding their food down.

We were met in Honolulu by a band and hula girls on the dock. I had the unfortunate experience of being on a painting detail down in the boiler room at the time. Didn't see any of this. We had an afternoon of liberty and walked all the way to Waikiki and back. I remember seeing the beach and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Somewhere along the way we stopped and shot pool. We left some Marines there. Seemed like a great place to pull duty but I had my mind set on going to China.

From there to Guam was smooth sailing. The ocean was flat as a table top. Saw some flying fish for the first time and some schools of porpoise. We felt a bump at one time. Someone said we hit a whale. Never saw it. Otherwise it was very boring for a few days. They were asking for volunteers to stay on Guam. I hid. Didn't seem like a very fun place to serve.

Manila was interesting. A bunch of young kids were swimming next to the ship when we docked. Not a healthy place to swim. They would dive for coins guys would throw in the water. We had liberty that evening and were impressed with the friendliness of the locals. They were still thankful remembering how we freed them from the Japanese. They would give you transportation to and from town for little or nothing, mostly in jeeps. A nickel or dime was fine with them. Didn't do much except walk around and take in the sights.

I walked a post on the upper deck of the ship in the middle of that night and never forget it. There were rats as large as house cats, very large house cats, roaming the docks. Docking ropes to the ship had large discs fastened to them to keep the varmints from coming aboard. There were men sleeping on top of stacks of bags of grain but the rats never touched them.

Shanghai was a most unforgettable experience.After we docked we were given liberty at approximately 1700 hours. We were advised not to go alone because of the threat of being rolled. We heard there was an enlisted mens club there so six of us, Bob Thatcher, Bob Vaughn, myself and three other guys whose names escape me decided to go there and shoot some pool and have a few beers. On the dock the only transportation we could see were pedicabs. China marines know what they are but for those who don't they are three wheeled vehicles much like a bicycle with a seat for passengers, usually two, in the back. There were only two cabs available, we dickered with the boys for a ride. They said they knew where the club was and could handle three passengers in each cab. And so off we went in this strange land and rode for what seemed an hour. We had no idea where we were so were at the mercy of our pedicab boys. Suddenly we turned in to a blind alley. A honey wagon (human waste transporting cart) pulled in behind us blocking our exit. It seemed like a hundred Chinese men in their long dress like robes with their hands up their sleeves surrounded us. we were ordered out of the cabs and and they asked for all our money. What could we do? We were greatly outnumbered. Then they took our watches and rings. Bob vaughn said he had a knife tucked in his sock and should he use it? We advised him not to. Like I said, we were outnumbered. We were then free to go.

So here we are, somewhere in Shanghai, and didn't know which way to go to get back to the ship. We were due back at the ship at 2200 hours. Nobody spoke English except the pedicab guys and they were long gone we tried using sign language but that didn't work. After walking several blocks, probably in the wrong direction, we came
upon a policeman and although he didn't speak English, he seemed to know we wanted to get back to our ship. He pointed in a certain direction and we headed that way. After communicating with several more policemen along the way we finally got back to our ship at about 2145 hours. six tired marines. That was our liberty in shanghai. "Shanghaid in Shanghai" I tell my friends & relatives.

A couple days later we pulled in to the port of Tsingtao. I served as a military policeman for about 18 months.This is one of my favorite stories my grandfather tells of his military service.... more

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Ima BossClothing Men & women's urban fashion for go getters making success... more

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Japan Earthquake,Tsunami ,Live Coverage.

Live coverage .... more

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Upgraded 9.0 Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan | Updates (New Videos/Photos/News Articles/Personal Accounts)

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US to Build $8 Billion Super Base on Pacific Island of Guam

The US is building an £8 billion super military base on the Pacific island of... more

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The Growing Threat From Alien Species

In my life I have been unfortunate enough to witness many shocking things in relation to the state of earth's ecosystems. Shortly after moving to the town of Katherine in the northern territory the cane toads also arrived like a biblical plague. One could hardly even drive on the road without running them over. Their poisonous glands also spelt doom for many native predators such as the Goanna and northern Quoll. Now the Cane toad has reached the borders of Western Australia. Introduced to Queensland in 1935 in hopes it would control the cane beetle it has since steadily spread across the continent leaving a trail of destruction.

I now live in Tasmania which is home to many smaller marsupials that have gone extinct on the mainland to introduced species such as the fox. However it is believed the fox has now made it here as well threatening the last major holdout for many unique species. On top of this the Tasmanian Devil has been driven to near extinction in the last few years by a facial tumour disease. The situation is just as bad or even worse in other parts of the planet such as Guam where the introduced brown tree snake has caused the extinction of many native species. Perhaps worst of all is New Zealand where introduced species now make up half of the fauna and many natives only survive on isolated islands.

However the impact extends to humans as well with West Nile virus now spreading across the United States, and millions being spent each year to control invasive species that damage infrastructure such as the Zebra mussel. I could go with other examples but the list of invasive species and the damage already caused is massive.

Once an invasive species becomes firmly established it is nearly impossible to get rid of it. Clearly more needs to be spent on prevention controls and rapid eradication if detected. This has been done successfully in the past such as the eradication of the African giant snail from Florida. Australia has also been leading the way with strict border controls and quarantine procedures. Restrictions on ships emptying their ballast tanks is another vital measure.

What have your experiences with invasive species been? Have you also witnessed this terrible worldwide plague?

*** Links would not paste correctly... please click to original source below for full linkage...
http://talkingskull.com/column/world-outside/growing-threat-from-alien-speciesIn my life I have been unfortunate enough to witness many shocking things in relation... more

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Raw Protest Footage Against More Cultural Genocide

The United States of America plans to develop Guam into another military installation... more

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Country Fast Facts: Guam

(CBS)Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the King of Spain, reached... more

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Brown tree snake a threat to Guam

In the last 60 years, brown tree snakes have become the embodiment of the bad things that can happen when invasive species are introduced in places where they have few predators. Unchecked for many years, the snakes caused the extinction of nearly every native bird species on the Pacific island of Guam.

A variety of other damage has been directly attributed to brown tree snakes, including large population losses among other native animal species in Guam's forests, attacks on children and pets, and electrical power outages.

But new research by University of Washington biologists suggests that indirect impacts might be even farther reaching, possibly changing tree distributions and reducing native tree populations, altering already damaged ecosystems even further.

"The brown tree snake has often been used as a textbook example for the negative impacts of invasive species, but after the loss of birds no one has looked at the snake's indirect effects," said Haldre Rogers, a UW doctoral student in biology.

"It has been 25 years since the birds disappeared. It seems to me the consequences are going to keep reverberating throughout the community if birds are fundamental components of the forest," she said.

Birds typically make up a small part of the life of a forest, but they are important for pollination, spreading seeds around the forest and controlling insects that feed on plants. Guam, an island 30 miles long and 5 to 15 miles wide about 3,800 miles west of Hawaii, lost most of its native birds after the brown tree snake was introduced by accident from the Admiralty Islands following World War II. The snake has few predators on Guam, so its population density is quite high -- estimated at more than 3,000 per square mile -- and some individuals there grow to an unusual size of 10 feet long.

Before introduction of the brown tree snake, Guam had 12 species of native forest birds. Today 10 of those are extinct on Guam, and the other two species have fewer than 200 individuals. Though Guam has some non-native bird populations, few other birds moved in when native species died out, and none of them live in the forest. That leaves few birds to consume tree seeds and then drop them away from the trees.

That could have two possible negative impacts on the native forests, Rogers said. First, some plant species need birds to handle their seeds to ensure effective germination. In addition, seed predators and fungi that kill seeds are often found in high density directly beneath a parent tree, so the trees rely on birds to disperse seeds beyond the range of those negative effects. If native birds performed those functions on Guam, tree populations could suffer from the loss of birds. It appears 60 percent to 70 percent of tree species in the native forests are dispersed, at least in part, by birds, she said.

In the last 60 years, brown tree snakes have become the embodiment of the bad things... more