Mice stuffed pain killers were dropped from the sky in tiny parachutes over Guam last week.
(That is as close to a World War II dispatch I will ever write.)
It’s a U.S. initiative to get rid of brown tree snakes. Guam, a US territory since the World War II has been infested with the snake, native to northern Australia and Papua New Guinea since the American military arrival during the war.
It’s believed they may have snuck aboard a cargo ship. Now they’re a problem , booming in population.
But paracetamol, aka acetaminophin, aka Tylenol/Panadol-while a fever reducer and pain reliever for people–is bad news for snakes.
According to this BBC report, the mice were tied to miniature cardboard parachutes designed to land in branches.
There the dangling mice will be poisoned food fodder for the tree-climbing snakes.
Photo credit: US Geological Survey
