Mice Bombs

[Montelores]

Why Does Tylenol Kill Snakes?
.
By Ross Pomeroy - RCP StaffJanuary 23, 2020

The headline seemed too strange to be true, the animal equivalent of the 82nd Airborne parachuting behind enemy lines in Normandy:

"Two thousand mice dropped on Guam by parachute — to kill snakes."

Back in 2013, in an attempt to quell the out-of-control population of invasive brown tree snakes which was devastating Guam's local birds and mucking with electrical infrastructure, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Wildlife Service bombarded targeted areas owned by the U.S. Government with dead mice, each armed with 80 milligrams of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. The idea was that the snakes would eat the mice and die.

Unlike other attempts to combat invasive species, which regularly backfire, this one seemed to work pretty well. The acetaminophen"mice bombs" didn't harm other animals and killed the invasive snakes within 24 hours of consumption. More air drops are planned.

So why does 80 milligrams of acetaminophen – just a quarter of the amount in a regular Tylenol pill – kill a snake while it would take 500 times more to kill a similarly-sized mammal? That question was the subject of a recent study published to the journal Scientific Reports.

As evidenced in prior research, as little as 40 milligrams of acetaminophen can be acutely toxic to any reptile, not just snakes. USDA wildlife scientists Tom Mathies and Richard E. Mauldin were curious why. A previous study hypothesized that reptiles lack the enzymes needed to metabolize acetaminophen. Over just a few days, elevated levels of acetaminophen can kill liver cells. However, in only a matter of hours, they can convert an organism's oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecules to methemoglobin, which cannot transport oxygen. The body's cells are thus starved of oxygen, resulting in death...

https://www.realclearscience.com/quick_and_clear_science/2020/01/23/why_does_tylenol_kill_snakes.html


P.S. https://health.ucsd.edu/news/features/Pages/2018-07-09-otc-protect-your-liver-from-acetaminophen.aspx

 

[bobski]

id give anything to see those small little parachute harnesses they put the mice in. lol.

 

[wwb]

And their cute little helmets.

I'll bet they're all uppity about their highly polished "jump boots", while all the grunt mice just get ordinary boots. (Do they still do that?)

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I wonder if those poison mice could help us with our Python problem in the Everglades?

 

[Rook]

I wonder if those poison mice could help us with our Python problem in the Everglades?

The article said "As evidenced in prior research, as little as 40 milligrams of acetaminophen can be acutely toxic to any reptile, not just snakes."

I would say that would put an end to the gators or any other reptiles in the Everglades if they were to do that.

 

[Bob Wright]

And their cute little helmets.

I'll bet they're all uppity about their highly polished "jump boots", while all the grunt mice just get ordinary boots. (Do they still do that?)

And the squeals of "Geronimo!"

Bob Wright

 

[Colonel Daddy]

:lol: :lol: ^^^^^^^^ :lol: :lol: :roll:

 

[Mobuck]

"The article said "As evidenced in prior research, as little as 40 milligrams of acetaminophen can be acutely toxic to any reptile, not just snakes."
I would say that would put an end to the gators or any other reptiles in the Everglades if they were to do that."

Pretty hard to believe that the lethal dosage for a 2# snake is also lethal to a 200+# gator. On the other hand, this looks like another tool in controlling the invasive pythons in Florida. To protect the gators, simply put the bait inside an enclosure that a snake can enter but not a gator.

 

[Montelores]

"The article said "As evidenced in prior research, as little as 40 milligrams of acetaminophen can be acutely toxic to any reptile, not just snakes."
I would say that would put an end to the gators or any other reptiles in the Everglades if they were to do that."

Pretty hard to believe that the lethal dosage for a 2# snake is also lethal to a 200+# gator. On the other hand, this looks like another tool in controlling the invasive pythons in Florida. To protect the gators, simply put the bait inside an enclosure that a snake can enter but not a gator.

That's a pretty clever solution, but what happens if the snake enters enclosure, consumes mouse bomb, exits enclosure, expires, and then is consumed by the alligator or other reptile?

Is the acetominiphin which is already in the bloodstream of the snake now benign or chemically altered, so no longer toxic?

Also, the OP article states, I believe, that the mice bombs were dropped on government property - is there an issue with non-government property being "bombed?"

Monty

 

[Snake45]

I wonder if those poison mice could help us with our Python problem in the Everglades?

That was the first thing I thought of too. :wink:

 

[Snake45]

To protect the gators, simply put the bait inside an enclosure that a snake can enter but not a gator.

Brilliant!

But, will a python eat a dead mouse, or are they only interested in stuff they kill themselves?

Also, since we're talking about pythons, maybe someone here can answer this: I watch the python hunters show on Discovery Channel. Why do they capture the pythons alive and bag them, and then kill them later? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just shoot them in the head with a .22 on first sighting? Does the state require this for some reason?

Also, you'd think a python could simply chew its way out of those flimsy-looking bags they put them in. :?

 

[caryc]

To protect the gators, simply put the bait inside an enclosure that a snake can enter but not a gator.

Brilliant!

But, will a python eat a dead mouse, or are they only interested in stuff they kill themselves?

Also, since we're talking about pythons, maybe someone here can answer this: I watch the python hunters show on Discovery Channel. Why do they capture the pythons alive and bag them, and then kill them later? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just shoot them in the head with a .22 on first sighting? Does the state require this for some reason?

Also, you'd think a python could simply chew its way out of those flimsy-looking bags they put them in. :?

Why don't they just put a paid bounty on python heads? Lots easier than messing with a 40# snake.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I don't know the answer about killing Pythons but I do know a big deal was made about how Pythons and Iguanas should be killed. To be humane I believe they need to be shot in the head or have their heads cut off. I imagine the sponsors of the snake hunts probably require they be brought in alive for science and then killed.

 

[Mobuck]

I doubt a python would even look at a mouse but they live on nutria which are fairly simple to live trap. As far as secondary non-target gator deaths, once the acet is metabolized by the original target, is it still toxic?

 

[coach]

Let me see. We’ve covered little mouse harnesses, little helmets and jump boots, and squeals of Geronimo. I think that about covers it. I got nothing more to add.

 

[wheelgun1958]

Let me see. We’ve covered little mouse harnesses, little helmets and jump boots, and squeals of Geronimo. I think that about covers it. I got nothing more to add.

Must be tough to blouse those little mouse trouser legs.

 

[graygun]

And their cute little helmets.

I'll bet they're all uppity about their highly polished "jump boots", while all the grunt mice just get ordinary boots. (Do they still do that?)

"...55,every month..."