# US gov't to air-drop toxic mice on Guam snakes **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104 "2013-02-22T20:11:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/1 "2013-02-22T20:11:16Z")
The headline says it all > **[Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More](https://news.yahoo.com/)** > > The latest news and headlines from Yahoo News. Get breaking news stories and in-depth coverage with videos and photos. > [@](#): > > ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AP) – Dead mice laced with painkillers are about to rain down on Guam’s jungle canopy. They are scientists’ prescription for a headache that has caused the tiny U.S. territory misery for more than 60 years: the brown tree snake. > > Most of Guam’s native bird species are extinct because of the snake, which reached the island’s thick jungles by hitching rides from the South Pacific on U.S. military ships shortly after World War II. There may be 2 million of the reptiles on Guam now, decimating wildlife, biting residents and even knocking out electricity by slithering onto power lines. > > More than 3,000 miles away, environmental officials in Hawaii have long feared a similar invasion — which in their case likely would be a “snakes on a plane” scenario. That would cost the state many vulnerable species and billions of dollars, but the risk will fall if Guam’s air-drop strategy succeeds. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/2 "2013-02-22T20:18:35Z")
If this is carpet rather than precision bombing, because hitting a snake on the head with a dead mouse from even a few hundred feet up has got to be tough, they’re going to need a hell of a lot of mice. ---
**Author:** ![solosam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/3 "2013-02-22T20:22:55Z")
Drone warfare! Think of all those poor, innocent baby snakes! It’s not their fault they’re snakes! ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/4 "2013-02-22T20:23:55Z")
First, picturing this is gruesomely amusing. Picturing someone confronted with the rain of dead mice who hasn’t heard about it in advance is even more so. Second, how long do you suppose it will be before someone figures out how to smoke and/or snort mice?\* \*Edit: Bummer. On actually reading the article carefully, I see the painkiller in question is just acetaminophen. No high snakes or mice-pipes. Just a new headache remedy. Take two mice and call me in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/5 "2013-02-22T20:26:04Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > If this is carpet rather than precision bombing, because hitting a snake on the head with a dead mouse from even a few hundred feet up has got to be tough, they’re going to need a hell of a lot of mice. Laser-guided smart mice. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/6 "2013-02-22T20:28:49Z")
There has to be a better way to deal with this problem. Dropping poisoned mice? Really? [del] Every other hungry animal on the island is as likely to eat the bait as the snakes are.[/del] OK, I see they are adding mini-parachute like things to hand the dead mice in tree branches. Adds comedic value. Why not pay a bounty for dead snakes? Let the locals solve the problem and earn a buck in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/7 "2013-02-22T20:33:39Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > There has to be a better way to deal with this problem. Dropping poisoned mice? Really? [del] Every other hungry animal on the island is as likely to eat the bait as the snakes are.[/del] OK, I see they are adding mini-parachute like things to hand the dead mice in tree branches. Adds comedic value. > > Why not pay a bounty for dead snakes? Let the locals solve the problem and earn a buck in the process. The bounty idea is okay, but within a week, you’d have people setting up clandestine snake farms. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/8 "2013-02-22T20:34:04Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > There has to be a better way to deal with this problem. Dropping poisoned mice? Really? Every other hungry animal on the island is as likely to eat the bait as the snakes are. Except that (a) the mice will be dropped with rigs that tangle in foliage, keeping them in the treetops, and (b) the snakes have already eaten everything else up there that might eat the mice. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/9 "2013-02-22T20:35:37Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Every other hungry animal on the island is as likely to eat the bait as the snakes are. Streamers are attached that’ll catch in the forest canopy right where snakes live. The other animal at risk, birds, are mostly wiped out already. So really they’re more military grade multiply tamponed smart mice. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/10 "2013-02-22T20:37:53Z")
Why would a dead mouse need a pain killer? Huh? Oh. never mind… ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/11 "2013-02-22T20:38:13Z")
Won’t the snake problem be solved when the island capsizes? What’s the rush? ---
**Author:** ![2gigch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2gigch1/32/3313_2.png) [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/12 "2013-02-22T20:41:32Z")
Resurrect Saint Patrick. ---
**Author:** ![solosam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/13 "2013-02-22T20:44:35Z")
And for years the forest canopy will be littered with tiny mouse parachutes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/14 "2013-02-22T20:47:02Z")
> [@solosam](#): > > And for years the forest canopy will be littered with tiny mouse parachutes. And does a parachuting mouse squeak “Mickey!” as it plummets towards the ground? ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/15 "2013-02-22T20:54:23Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And does a parachuting mouse squeak “Mickey!” as it plummets towards the ground? Of course not, it’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/16 "2013-02-22T20:56:58Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > Of course not, it’s dead. Not at all; it’s tired and shagged out following a prolonged squeak. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/17 "2013-02-22T21:02:17Z")
You know, I have one simple request - and that is to have mice with frickin’ Tylenol attached to their heads. Oh, we can do that? Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/18 "2013-02-22T21:06:21Z")
So they are going to save the birds by dropping poisoned mice into the trees? Are these mice going to have little signs around their necks reading "_Snake Food Only!_, to stop the birds from gobbling them up? ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/19 "2013-02-22T21:32:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So they are going to save the birds by dropping poisoned mice into the trees? Are these mice going to have little signs around their necks reading "_Snake Food Only!_, to stop the birds from gobbling them up? Hey, read the thread. Lots of people have already answered this question. I’m glad they are doing something. The loss of the birds in Guam is a real tragedy, and if we were to lose more Pacific island species it would be even worse. I hope this campaign is successful. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104/20 "2013-02-22T21:58:06Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > And does a parachuting mouse squeak “Mickey!” as it plummets towards the ground? This sparked my mind. I wonder if the mice are dead _because_ of the painkillers. In other words, they’ve been slipped…a mickey. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-govt-to-air-drop-toxic-mice-on-guam-snakes/651104.md?page=2)