{"id":491948,"date":"2026-01-04T14:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491948\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T14:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:44:16","slug":"the-us-is-using-2-000-rats-given-paracetamol-to-reduce-invasive-snakes-in-forests-and-protect-wildlife-and-the-power-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491948\/","title":{"rendered":"The US is using 2.000 rats given paracetamol to reduce invasive snakes in forests and protect wildlife and the power grid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                            <img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" data-lazy- class=\"avatar avatar-43 photo\" height=\"43\" width=\"43\" decoding=\"async\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/avatar_user_280_1755182525-43x43.jpeg\"\/>                        <\/p>\n<p>                            Published<\/p>\n<p>                            03\/01\/2026 \u00e0s 22:54\n                    <\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The planned action for the forests of <strong>Guam<\/strong> It went from being planned to being included in the list of measures used to combat the arboreal brown snake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The method uses dead rodents with <strong>80 milligrams of paracetamol<\/strong>, a lethal dose for the species, placed in the environment in a way that makes it easier for snakes to find them.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the impact on wildlife, the spread of snakes also affects the island&#8217;s infrastructure, with the risk of problems in electrical systems and power outages.<\/p>\n<p>        \u2014 ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW \u2014<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.clickpetroleoegas.com.br\/If-the-US-wanted-to-invade-Brazil--would-we-have-ways-to-protect-ourselves-Debate-gains-strength-after-new-crisis-involving-Venezuela--Trump--and-Maduro.-phsn84\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767521979640.jpeg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What happened and why did it attract attention?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The operation involved the launch of <strong>2.000 rats<\/strong> already dead, prepared to serve as toxic bait for snakes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The target is the arboreal brown snake, which can reach <strong>three meters<\/strong> and it spread aggressively across the island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The strategy attracted attention for using <strong>paracetamol<\/strong> as a toxicant for an invasive reptile, taking advantage of the species&#8217; high sensitivity to the compound.<\/p>\n<p>How does the bait fall into the trees?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-321387\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Design-sem-nome-3-2.jpg\"\/>Left: Standard Air Delivery System (ADS) with dead rat bait. <strong>4 to 6 g<\/strong> e <strong>one 80 mg acetaminophen tablet<\/strong> fixed externally.<br \/>Right: proposed alternative ground bait consisting of a dead rat. <strong>13 to 17 g<\/strong> on <strong>two 80 mg tablets<\/strong> inserted into the body.<\/p>\n<p>To reduce the risk of other animals finding the bait on the ground, the delivery method was designed to get caught in the vegetation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The procedure calls for the rodents to be released. <strong>one by one<\/strong>, with a mini parachute, to get tangled in the trees where the snakes roam.<\/p>\n<p>Radio tracking was also used on some of the baits to monitor the snakes&#8217; movements before death, during the evaluation phase of the method.<\/p>\n<p>Why did paracetamol become used to control snakes?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">O <strong>paracetamol<\/strong> It is an effective oral toxicant for the brown arboreal snake, with a dose of <strong>80 milligrams<\/strong> associated with very high mortality in the species.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">Large-scale control gained momentum with the development of a <strong>automated air delivery system<\/strong>, designed to distribute bait in wooded areas quickly and consistently.<\/p>\n<p>Tests and validations indicate that the technique can reduce the abundance of snakes in treated areas, although it does not eliminate the problem permanently.<\/p>\n<p>The scale of the problem in Guam and the daily damage it causes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns=\" http:=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-321392\" data-lazy- data-lazy- data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Design-sem-nome-4-2.jpg\"\/>Arboreal brown snakes can vary greatly in size. The image shows a small juvenile (<strong>713 mm<\/strong> of snout-cloaca length, <strong>36 g<\/strong> of body mass; on the left) and an exceptionally large male (<strong>1.800 mm<\/strong>, <strong>1.285 g<\/strong>; on the right)<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">Estimates suggest approximately <strong>2 million<\/strong> of snakes in <strong>541 square kilometers<\/strong> from Guam, with a density between <strong>50 to 100<\/strong> snakes per hectare in critical areas<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">The species is linked to the loss of native birds, with extinction of <strong>nine out of 12<\/strong> Native species mentioned in the history of the problem.<\/p>\n<p>Pressure is also appearing in the infrastructure sector, with a focus on reducing blackouts and risks in electrical installations.<\/p>\n<p>What could happen from now on?<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uog.edu\/_resources\/files\/wptrc\/USDA_BTS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The program was not limited to a single action.<\/a> and became part of a set of control measures, with ongoing research and method adjustments.<\/p>\n<p>Aerial spraying can suppress snakes for a period, but reinvasion from untreated areas occurs over the course of months, reinforcing the need for repeated applications and combination with other tools.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gt-block\">Guam remains an unincorporated associated territory of the United States, with <strong>160 thousand<\/strong> People and military relevance, while snake control remains an environmental and essential service issue, like energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published 03\/01\/2026 \u00e0s 22:54 The planned action for the forests of Guam It went from being planned to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":491949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[221694,746,210591,221695,221696,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-491948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-cobras-invasoras","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-estados-unidos","11":"tag-eua","12":"tag-ratos-com-paracetamol","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115837367942902450","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}