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Brown Tree Snake
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by Hiss on October 11, 2001
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Hello,
We are doing a project in Mr. Wertan's biology course on the Brown Tree Snake. We would like to know if you think that, in order to control the brown tree snake population in Guam, if releasing grey horned owls of the same sex, would help control the problem? Because they are noturnal, they would be a good subject to use. We would like to know if you agree and what is your opinion on this matter? Please respond as soon as you can. Thank you so much for you time.
Thanks!
Candy Jordan and
Miranda Braswell
Respond to : candyj_01@hotmail.com
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RE: Brown Tree Snake
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by Buzztail1 on October 11, 2001
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I have been fortunate enough to have seen this sort of attempt before first hand.
Whenever an exotic species is introduced to control another exotic species, the initial results are excellent. The Grey Horned Owl would make an excellent predator for the Brown Tree Snake. Unfortunately, its diet would not be restricted to Brown Tree Snakes! It would also consume small mammals and birds which are already overpredated by Brown Tree Snakes. The idea of all one sex of owl being used is outstanding but while intially Brown Tree Snake numbers would decline, eventually a balance in numbers would be reached and the owls would begin to prey on other animals until they eventually died out and the Brown Tree Snakes' numbers would once again explode.
The Marine Toad is not native to Bermuda but was imported to control the numbers of Green Anoles which overran the island when introduced to control insects. They both inhabit the island of Bermuda in large numbers now.
The mongoose is not native to Hawaii but was imported to control rat numbers. After importing them, it was learned that mongooses find ground nesting birds to be much easier prey than rats.
Island habitats are incredibly difficult to manage as the ecological niches are not always obvious until they are threatened. On the flip side of all of this negativity, this is the excellent "out-of-the-box" kind of thinking that will bring useful answers to this sort of problem.
You're heading down the right path,
Karl
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RE: Brown Tree Snake
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by scottquint on October 16, 2001
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You may want to consider a harmless species that exclusively eats snakes, like the Mussarana or the African File Snake
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