Comments on: USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes

USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:20:01 -0800

USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes

By: Subcommandante Cheese

Subcommandante Cheese — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:21:35 -0800

finally.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:26:37 -0800

Proof, as if it was needed, that fiction can not hold a candle to reality.

By: albrecht

albrecht — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:27:37 -0800

Tylenol should really try to use this in their future ad campaigns: "Tylenol: Feel better. Or kill some tree snakes with frozen mouse-bombs."

By: maryr

maryr — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:29:55 -0800

Recommended by more hospitals for relief from invasive snakes...

By: jedicus

jedicus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:31:44 -0800

Reminds me of air dropping vaccine-laced baits to vaccinate wild animals against rabies. As you'd expect from an edible vaccine, the success rate is pretty low, but it only takes a low percentage of immune animals to disrupt rabies transmission.

By: Durn Bronzefist

Durn Bronzefist — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:35:26 -0800

So now we know what Danny, the champion of the world, did when he grew up -- he went to work for the USDA.

By: i_cola

i_cola — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:40:33 -0800

Urgh. Too much work to do. Can someone else come up with some riff on Snakes on a Plane / unfreezing mice type incidents please? CHeers.

By: verb

verb — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:43:44 -0800

Surely, there will be no unintended consequences.

By: geoff.

geoff. — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:44:08 -0800

What about the snakes that consume 3 or more drinks a day?

By: T.D. Strange

T.D. Strange — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:44:33 -0800

Seriously, how do I get this job?

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:47:48 -0800

You are telling me, there is a factory out there that freezes mice, dips them in acetaminophen, then pastes them to cardboard? There are people out there in that factory, and that is their job? To glue dead mice dipped in Tylenol to cardboard? And that, in all likelihood, they won the contract against other firms vying to glue mice to cardboard? Finally, a job market for art school graduates!

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:49:03 -0800

Seriously, how do I get this job? Take some aspirin and glue yourself to a board.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:49:42 -0800

Or acetaminophen. Dammit. I am never making a joke again.

By: azpenguin

azpenguin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:49:57 -0800

This thread headline reads like something out of the Jabberwocky plugin that we use to create placeholder text at work.

By: maryr

maryr — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:50:19 -0800

Finally, a job market for biology post-docs!

By: jquinby

jquinby — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:51:13 -0800

Just bring in something to eat the snakes.

By: AugieAugustus

AugieAugustus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:52:09 -0800

Heeeere, snakey snakey snakey

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:52:33 -0800

And why are they gluing them to cardboard streamers? Because it would take too much time to attach them to little parachutes:

However, a problem with the parachutes and the paper plate and paper cup is that threads have to be secured to them for attaching the dead mice. This is a time consuming effort and with authorized broadcast application rates of 36 baits/hr (3,600 baits/100 hr), resources are not adequate to prepare the thousands of baits needed for large-scale control of snakes. From an operational management perspective, the single and double white flags, also called streamers, appear to have the best potential as materials for delivering baits to the canopy. They are commercially available and dead mouse baits can be glued to them without the tedious effort of attaching threads.

By: nowoutside

nowoutside — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:53:35 -0800

This is actually how St. Patrick pulled off driving the snakes from Ireland.

By: JoanArkham

JoanArkham — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:54:45 -0800

I used to have a pet mouse, and I generally think rodents are cute. Heck, I've got no problem with most snakes either. But...I've heard first-hand stories about the snakes in Guam attacking people from trees and I've kind of got to support this.

By: orme

orme — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:54:50 -0800

You mean it isn't the mice that are relieving my headaches?

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 08:55:42 -0800

My first reading was that these badass mice would revive upon thawing and, with their acetaminophen-fueled superpowers, go all Terminator on those snakes. I actually like that better than the poisoned-bait idea. Webcomic, anyone? According to the first link these snakes cause power outages every few days on Guam; I shudder to think how many snakes it must take to disrupt a power grid. Eeeek.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:08:39 -0800

This is actually how St. Patrick pulled off driving the snakes from Ireland. no, he drank them under the table

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:16:06 -0800

Can someone else come up with some riff on Snakes on a Plane / unfreezing mice type incidents please? Easy-peasy. Snake Death on a Plane

By: hanoixan

hanoixan — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:16:41 -0800

Some background on killing snakes with acetaminophen.

By: quin

quin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 09:54:04 -0800

USDA glues acetaminophen-laced frozen mice to cardboard, bombs Guam treetops to kill snakes See, this is exactly why I don't get modern art; I understand the frozen mice. I understand the drugs and glue, hell I even understand the snakes. But cardboard? Surely if the artist wanted to send the message it seems clear that he was going for, ricepaper would have been the obvious choice. *shrugs* Whatever. If it makes others happy, I'm content to just not understand the stylistic decision.

By: w0mbat

w0mbat — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:01:58 -0800

A reminder of how dangerous acetaminophen (aka paracetamol) is compared to ibuprofen or aspirin. Seriously, there are often calls to ban it, or at least combine it with the antidote (methionine).

By: Bernt Pancreas

Bernt Pancreas — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:35:06 -0800

Previously.

By: steef

steef — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:37:59 -0800

Mr. Freeze: Ice to see you! Take two of these, and call me in the morning.

By: rough ashlar

rough ashlar — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 10:40:24 -0800

Surely, there will be no unintended consequences. Rather less than the GMO soy (seems it effects your reproductive system in rat studies) and the BT in the corn is water soluable - thus is washing into the watershed when it rains.

By: adipocere

adipocere — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:16:33 -0800

If you're going for headlines, I think "Rain of Tropical Mice-sicles Slay Snakes, Protect Power Lines" might be alright.

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:19:39 -0800

Wait wait wait. Are these wireless mice? Those are like $35 wholesale.

By: cftarnas

cftarnas — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 11:58:46 -0800

rough ashlar: Rather less than the GMO soy (seems it effects your reproductive system in rat studies) Just avoid soy in general as they all have phytoestrogens, although fermented soy products have less (none?).

By: m@f

m@f — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:01:41 -0800

If this doesn't work, Plan B is ready to go: Operation Dumbo Drop 2.

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:06:04 -0800

My first reading was that these badass mice would revive upon thawing and, with their acetaminophen-fueled superpowers... Me too! Well, sort of. I thought that snakes wouldn't eat dead mice and the mice wouldn't be killed by the drop if they were in suspended-animation.

By: Danf

Danf — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 12:09:55 -0800

I wonder if they tried a mouse exchange program first.

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:27:45 -0800

seems it effects your reproductive system in rat studies

If my reproductive system is in a rat study I've got more urgent things to worry about.

By: jedicus

jedicus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:43:18 -0800

A reminder of how dangerous acetaminophen (aka paracetamol) is compared to ibuprofen or aspirin. Seriously, there are often calls to ban it, or at least combine it with the antidote (methionine). The NSAIDs (ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen, etc) cause far more hospitalizations and deaths every year than acetaminophen. They also have a much higher side-effect rate at therapeutic doses, including severe side effects. A large proportion (possibly a majority, depending on the study) of acetaminophen-related deaths are intentional overdoses (i.e., suicides). Taken at therapeutic levels it is extremely safe.

By: maryr

maryr — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:47:59 -0800

What are the severe side effects of the NSAIDs? All I ever really heard about is indigestion (or stomach problems due to long term use).

By: jedicus

jedicus — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:01:07 -0800

What are the severe side effects of the NSAIDs? All I ever really heard about is indigestion (or stomach problems due to long term use). There are a bunch. Most significantly they can cause gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding, which can be pretty severe in some cases, even to the point of causing death. In people with other GI problems that they may or may not know about (e.g., Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), those side effects can be exacerbated significantly. NSAIDs can also cause kidney-related side effects. Usually this is fluid retention or hypertension, but in certain cases they can cause kidney failure. Also, NSAIDs, especially aspirin, are generally not to be used during pregnancy except in special circumstances because they can have pretty significant side effects on the fetus, whereas acetaminophen is considered safe.

By: bad grammar

bad grammar — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:08:21 -0800

These snakes are rather cute individually, with their big heads and big eyes. Anime snakes. But they are reportedly everywhere on the island, cause frequent power outages (they like to climb, so they climb telephone poles and nest in the wiring); as an invasive species they lack natural enemies and are devastating the native bird population. Hence increasingly all-out efforts to kill them.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:38:13 -0800

This entire story sounds like a response to "Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

By: Twang

Twang — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:21:01 -0800

Four billion years of evolution, 4 years of college, and this is what we get to do in the New Economy? Time to pull out that Pancho Villa bio, I think.

By: phliar

phliar — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 17:42:23 -0800

...they lack natural enemies and are devastating the native bird population. Or, have already devastated the native bird population. Apparently Guam (like most islands) used to have fantastic songbirds until the snakes arrived. (Yes, they arrived -- as stowaways -- on planes, starting in WW2.) Now Guam is silent.

By: Xezlec

Xezlec — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:12:41 -0800

A headline that lives up to the poster's name. Not an easy thing to do in this case. Killing off invasive species using relatively brute-force methods has worked in other cases to restore habitats and endangered species. (Can't find the link I'm thinking of at the moment, but wasn't there a MeFi post about some island in the Pacific with some kind of birds?) The point about unintended consequences seems rather moot -- this is already an unintended consequence, and the measure being taken seems intuitively safer than letting the snakes continue to run wild. Might be the right call, might not, but if I had to put money on it, I'd bet on doing something after careful consideration working out better statistically than not doing anything at all and hoping for the best.

By: w0mbat

w0mbat — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 09:57:09 -0800

"Paracetamol toxicity is the foremost cause of acute liver failure in the Western world, and accounts for most drug overdoses in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.". Liver failure from intentional overdose = death. It has also been remarked upon that the fatal dose for this drug is not that much higher than the standard dose. That's a pretty severe risk profile for a drug that fixes a headache no better than aspirin.

By: maryr

maryr — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:37:22 -0800

Aspirin is not safe to give to children or pregnant women. Yeah, it wouldn't pass FDA regulation if it were brought to trial today, but you know what? Neither would aspirin.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:21:22 -0800

Or Hitler! Wait.. what are we talking about, again?