First and foremost management to make sure this ecological disaster does not occur again, begins with visual searches from all locations leading into and out of Guam. There also are Beagles and Jack Russell Terriers that have been taught to detect the snakes through their sense of smell, much like drug dogs. The effectiveness of this practice is questionable due to the accessibility of some containers and transportation. It also requires training the dogs and use of resources which is costly.
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| Jack Russell Terrier inspecting planes for Brown Tree Snakes |
Habitat modification near said ports can eliminate prey and shelter for the snakes to thrive. This means clearing any sort of vegetation and/or debris that may harbor the BTS. This sort of method helps this crisis in the long run by extinguishing the opportunity for snakes to leave the island or to survive if brought to Guam. Unfortunately this does not help in the short term, by actually ridding the island of the species.
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| Brown Tree Snake trap |
Trapping the snakes has been a fairly effective way of controlling the population of snakes. Many experiments and research have been done to hone the design of an efficient trap. Today the trap used most widely is funnel-like contraption where some sort of prey is placed to lure the snake into. The downside to this is that you have to be aware of keeping your prey alive by providing it a decent environment and replenishing it's food supply. Research is being done to find alternative lures, such as artificial bait but nothing has successfully been accomplished.
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| Tylenol-laced mouse |
Bait laced with toxins developed for the eradication of snakes have been proving to be another effective method. Some of these include the combination of mice and acetaminophen that leads to the death of the snakes. The main concerns for this type of management is the affect on non-target species. More research has been done to advance the bait station designs and placement. The data from this research conclude that downward angled stations that are elevated in preferred vegetation of target species is recommended.
Possibly could vary the graphics a little bit. The labeled is a brown snake is a good pic but it serves a better purpose on background information and different graphics would look great.
ReplyDeleteThis would be a neat slide to have some other pictures of the various control methods. Also, if you could break up the different control topics into subsections would be more visually appealing. That way there would not be just a big block of information.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be nice to number and really highlight the different management options.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Megan; as you were explaining the traps, I had a hard time imagining what they actually looked like so I think a picture of one would help your page.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the topics could use some sort of delineation whether it be through bolder/bigger subject titles or subsections.