12-27-2008, 06:56 AM
And here's something explaining that trapping is mostly a gesture at snake control:
quote:
In its arsenal against a snake invasion, the state also has another method employed by the DLNR in an effort to catch snakes. Traps are baited with live animals, usually mice. In response to the maui snake sighting, for example, the DLNR set 60 such traps. Most snake experts will admit this is not a terribly effective means of catching snakes. It is done not because of high expectations of success, but rather to make certain all possible avenues are exhausted. Nor is the ineffectiveness of traps difficult to explain. As prey densities (that is, rat populations) are so high in cane fields, getting a snake to enter a baited trap would almost be a matter of dumb luck.
Traps are somewhat more effective in Guam. There, brown tree snakes have wiped out most food sources and are looking for anything to eat. In the wild, most of the birds are gone so they basically feed on lizards and whatever else they can find, that's why they go in the trap. But in Hawai`ithere are still a lot of birds. The snake is not likely to enter a trap when it can catch its own bird on the tree. Traps are also expensive to maintain. Each trap needs live bait that must be fed and changed on a regular basis.
Other possibilities include physical barriers, fumigants to treat cargo containers, and biological control . All are still in the early research stages, and almost all of these are focused only on the brown tree snake.
Teamwork between agencies to respond to snake sightings and assist in search efforts: Response time is a critical factor.If a snake is not caught within minutes of its sighting, it is most likely it will not be caught at all. It can take as little as half an hour to mobilize searchers but if it looks as though it will take longer than two hours for Department of Agriculture personnel to arrive at the site of the spotting, other agencies are called in to help. These might include the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, military personnel, or volunteers trained by the DLNR to hunt for snakes. (The Fish and Wildlife Service cannot use funds to assist in searches unless the snake is suspected to be a brown tree snake.)