DLNR uses traps to fight snakes

Within the next six months, the Department of Lands and Natural Resources will put snake traps all over Saipan in a bid to eliminate the proliferation of brown tree snakes on the island.
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According to Marianne Concepcion, public information officer of the DLNR, biologists from the US mainland will be coming here to guide the staff of the department in the campaign against brown tree snakes.
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Although the last sighting of the snake was in January 1998, the department wants to find out if there is already a population of brown tree snake on Saipan. Snakes caught will be dissected to find out if these have already reproduced.
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Two canine dogs are used by the Quarantine Office in the airport and the seaport just to sniff on baggages and container vans to ensure that no brown tree snake entered the island.
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While there are no canine dogs on the island-municipalities of Rota and Tinian metal mesh barriers have been installed on these areas to prevent the snakes from crawling. Baggages and container vans that are brought to these islands are placed in the contained area for three days.
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Authorities are on the lookout for cargoes that come from high risk cargo specially coming from Guam and the Philippines. When the brown tree snakes arrived on Guam in the 1940’s, the brown tree snake started eating all the small mammals.
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It has preyed on poultry, rabbits and pets. Since the snake can crawl up the electric posts, it has caused frequent disruptions of electrical power. The brown tree snake is a member of the snake family Colubridae, most of which lack the highly toxic venom of the truly venomous cobras and vipers.
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According to Gad Perry, a scientist from Guam, a brown tree snake is particularly hard to find because it is nocturnal. “It is notoriously difficult to spot it because it moves through the foilage at night, looking like a vine or a trunk of the tree,” said Perry.
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Many people may not be aware of the intensity of the problem but scientists have already expressed alarm on the spread of the brown tree snake in the Northern Marianas because it poses a big problem to the island’s birds, lizards and mammals.
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Scientists do not know how many females were responsible for the Guam population, but it was probably a small number because most stowaways probably died in transit or failed to find mates in the new environment.