A collaboration of the fellow who got the rats out of Hamlin and the fellow credited with driving the snakes out of Ireland might resemble what the U.S. government is going to do in Guam. (OK, both of these examples are legends, but bear with me.)
There are nearly no native birds on Guam, a small island territory. Much of this can be traced to the brown tree snake population, which arrived on the small island with planes following World War II. In the six decades since, they have dined on the local birds and grown in numbers to approximately 2 million. The scenario could unfold in other Pacific islands, so the Department of Agriculture is looking to try something dramatic.
They will parachute dead mice over the island. The mice will carry acetaminophen, the active ingredient in many painkillers, which is toxic to the snakes. The parachutes are necessary to get the mice into the trees, where the snakes reside. The drop is expected to take place in April or May. Given the bizarre visuals that I can imagine from such an enterprise, I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t publicized.
(And yes, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is not pleased.)
As it happens, animal paratroopers are not quite as rare as you might expect. There is a story of cats being dropped into Borneo in the 1950s following an increase in the local rat population (H/T Seattle Post-Intelligencer). It was an effort involving the World Health Organization and the Royal Air Force of Singapore. However, there are conflicting details of why the cats were dropped. Regardless of the specifics, it was another instance of dramatic responses to long-term destabilization of the local ecosystem.
Pasco Phronesis 