The BTS has disturbed the ecological stability of Guam because the Nineteen Fifties, when the species first arrived stowed away in transport supplies. On the island, the tree snakes prey on numerous small animals together with lizards, birds, and bats.
“They’re opportunistic feeders,” stated Megan Parker, a pure sources specialist with JRM. “Since they had been launched, there was a cascading impact. They eat the birds; fewer birds means extra pests and illnesses after which there aren’t any native birds to unfold native seeds – that is one other large impression.”
Apart from birds, the snakes prey on different small animals together with lizards and bats. The ripple results have been vital.
Marc Corridor, the JRM conservation applications supervisor defined, “Brown Tree Snakes are most likely the largest limiting issue to the restoration of listed vertebrates [on Guam] – bats and birds. There are a lot of elements that contribute to the restoration of these species, however the Brown Tree Snakes appears to be inflicting nearly all of the issue.”
JRM has been concerned in efforts to deal with the invasive species for years. Partnerships between the Division of Protection and the Guam Division of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Companies, and the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) permit for interdiction and mitigation.
Since 1994, interdiction applications have included traps on airfields fences and inspections performed by specifically educated Brown Tree Snake detection canines. The long-running applications guarantee snakes don’t stow away on navy gear or transport containers leaving the island.
“It is a very profitable program,” Corridor stated. “The fundamental mannequin continues to be productive. The final reside snake to have escaped Guam was again in 2006 in a munitions container that ended up in Oklahoma.”
Mitigation efforts have additionally been unfolding with success. In 2011, 135 acres of jungle on Andersen Air Drive Base had been designated as a Habitat Administration Unit (HMU) for ecological examine.
Leanne Obra, the JRM Brown Tree Snake program supervisor, defined that the HMU began as a ‘multi-species barrier enclosure’, or fenced space designed to maintain out invasive snakes, pigs, and deer. The barrier helps management the realm for environmental examine on the snake inhabitants. The fencing surrounding the location has been rendered snake-proof by way of a big protruding bump on the fence line 4 ft above the bottom.
“The snakes cannot climb over it as a result of the bump requires them to place about two-thirds of their physique weight the wrong way up, and their tails cannot help that,” Obra defined.
The HMU has been a haven for scientific examine on forest restoration and a measuring stick for the ecological well being of the island. As a result of the snake inhabitants throughout the HMU will be carefully noticed for indicators of environmental impression, the realm is ideal for conducting routine bait drops within the battle in opposition to the invasive snakes.
The bait drop is a necessary a part of Brown Tree Snake mitigation. A multi-day helicopter drop happens each 90 days and is coordinated with the USDA. The mitigation is performed utilizing a UH-6 helicopter customized fitted with an automatic bait dispenser for the operation. The helicopter makes a number of passes over the HMU whereas the automated dispenser drops Tylenol-laced bait into the bushes. The bait presents itself as a straightforward snack for the arboreal Brown Tree Snake, however the snakes have proteins of their blood that can’t perform after ingesting Tylenol.
Over the previous 5 years, the Brown Tree Snake Program has dropped 46,200 baits within the HMU, and the impact is noticeable. The environmental specialists managing the realm discover that it’s tougher and tougher to seek out the snake species throughout the HMU, and indicators level to a dwindling inhabitants.
“We proceed to coordinate with our companions, operations personnel, and directors to not solely stop the unfold of Brown Tree Snake from Guam however to suppress and management Brown Tree Snake numbers to cut back their impression on the island of Guam and to revive the island’s ecosystems,” Obra stated.
