Wildlife

Dead Mouse Paratroopers Combat Guam Snakes

In what is likely to be remembered as one of the strangest pest control policies ever pursued, Guam has decided to combat the island’s ongoing snake infestation by parachuting painkiller-laced dead baby mice into the jungle canopy.

For over 60 years, officials have been waging war against the brown tree snake, an invasive species that has killed off much of Guam’s native bird population, and which some experts fear may spread to Hawaii.

If all goes according to plan, infant mice corpses, wearing small parachutes and laced with the pain reliever acetaminophen, will be flung from helicopters flying over the jungle. Acetaminophen is deadly to snakes.