Search continues for sighted brown tree snakes

Searchers from various local and federal agencies continue to look for the brown tree snakes spotted earlier this month. They are currently focusing on and scouring parts of Dandan Village where the sightings were reported. (Frauleine Villanueva-Dizon)

According to the U.S Geological Survey, one of the agencies that are currently on island to help local agencies, they have no evidence or trace yet of the snake that was estimated to be 4 to 5 feet long according to eyewitnesses.

“In terms of evidence, it’s pretty tough to find. If there’s a snake there, maybe we can find a shed, a snake shed, but a lot of times it’s going to be deep in the jungle somewhere,” USGS rapid response team coordinator Adam Knox told Saipan Tribune.

“It will be great to have the snake go in the trap but the valuable role is to get the snake closer to us especially at night. The traps are all set up on our search line,” he added.

The search team isn’t also sure how many snakes were able to get on island.

“We hope that it’s just one snake but we don’t know,” DLNR-DFW wildlife section supervisor Anne Orlando said.

Asked about the possibility of snake reproduction, Knox said there is a possibility.

“We do know that it’s possible for a snake to, if it got away from Guam and when it came here it’s a pregnant female, it can obviously have babies here without finding a new snake to mate with,” Knox said.

He added that female brown tree snakes can store sperm up to more than a year for it to reproduce.

According to Knox, the rain events experienced over the last days makes the situation better for them.

“It actually makes it better. The snakes start moving around when it rains or sometimes they get flooded out of their burrow or wherever they may be hiding,” Knox said.

About 15 people from agencies such as USGS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and the CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources-Division of Fish and Wildlife are conducting intensive night searches on the ground as well as trees for four to five hours nightly as the brown tree snakes tend to move and search for prey at night and around dawn and dusk

Over 80 mouse-baited traps have been set.

The searchers are looking around the area in Dandan as the sightings happened in the residential area there, as well as by the airport.

Knox said they may widen the search area should they not be able to find the snake in the said village.

“Right now this is what we’re focused on but there’s always a chance we could [widen the search area],” Knox said.

Knox and Orlando stressed the need for everyone in the public to keep their eyes open for brown tree snakes and should they see one, try to make an effort to catch, trap, or decapitate it.

They said that it is easy to catch it by the tail especially when it is in its escape mode when it tries to get away from you. Should a snake be in the defensive mode, described as when the head looks directly and is in S-form, it would be best to wait for it to get into escape mode.

In grabbing the snake’s tail, avoid lifting it all the off the ground so that it won’t curl up to your hand. The snake can be hit by a sharp object such as machete or shovel tip to decapitate it.