The killer brown tree snake

Sliding along the tree branches is the killer brown tree snake (or BTS for short). This snake has almost no predators in the CNMI. The snake can be almost impossible to see. It blends into trees like a shadow in the night. The BTS is nocturnal and lives in caves or trees. The snakes eat puppies, birds, chickens, lizards, and trash. They haven’t taken over the CNMI yet but might be slowly reproducing.

To control the snake population, the Division of Fish and Wildlife are using as many ways as they can. One way to control the BTS is to hang traps around docks, airports, and areas where there have been credible sightings. The trap is a wire cylinder that has two holes on each side with a mouse in the middle. When the snake tries to get the mouse they get trapped. Fish and Wildlife checks the cages each week for snakes.

There are also dogs that can sniff out snakes. The dogs sniff out cargo and other things around for snakes. The dogs only work well in the morning and evening. In the afternoon the smell of the snake disappears.

There are barriers at the docks and airports to trap snakes. The barriers are closed-in areas the have ledges hanging inward. They put cargo inside so if a snake tries to escape it can’t climb over the wall. Then in the morning the dogs can go in and sniff out the snakes. If there is none then they move out the cargo.

There are many reasons to control the BTS. The snakes eat everything they can, so they eat birds. When a bird becomes endangered it is bad not only for the ecosystem but it is bad for development. If an endangered bird, or species for that matter, lives on a piece of property you own you might not be able to build on it. You would ether have to buy another piece of land for the bird to live, avoid the bird’s home, or not build at all. If all the birds become endangered it will be very hard on development.

Brown tree snakes also climb telephone poles and can cause a power outage. That outage can even be islandwide. In takes 3-4 hours to fix such an incident. In the Guam’s hospital, one out of 1,000 patients are in there because of a brown tree snake bite. Many of these people are babies and small children.

To help fight brown tree snakes, you need to know more about them. If you see a snake, call 28-SNAKE. Don’t startle the snake, or you will never see it again. Slowly follow it or if your 100 percent sure that you can kill it, then kill it. Learn more ways to fight brown tree snakes by doing research or calling DFW at 664-6014.