US to airdrop poisoned mice on Guam

Declaring war against invasive brown tree snakes infesting the Pacific US territory of Guam, wildlife officials plan this spring to bomb the island with dead baby mice stuffed with a common pain-killing medicine that is poisonous to the reptiles, Reuters reports.

Brown tree snakes, believed to have been inadvertently carried to Guam around the end of World War Two aboard U.S. military vessels, have become major pests blamed for wiping out native bird populations on the island.

Wildlife officials have worried for years that the snakes, which have no natural predators on Guam, could one day reach other Pacific islands, especially Hawaii, nearly 4,000 miles (6,400 km) to the east, raising further environmental havoc.

The project is set to begin in March or April with dead newborn mice being dropped by helicopter over jungle areas where the snakes are most heavily concentrated.

One initial target will be the vicinity of Andersen Air Force Base, which is surrounded by dense vegetation and is seen as a potential starting point for snakes that might end up as stowaways aboard departing aircraft.