Brown tree snakes on Guam!

["T. K. Cassidy" <tkc@KUENTOS.GUAM.NET>]

> I was just watching the 150th anniversary show of
>the Smithsonion and they were talking about the brown tree snakes there in Guam
>and it scared me half to death!  I do not think I could stand to live on an
>island with 1 to 2 million snakes and no birds!

I am so tired of the Smithsonian and National Geographic perpetuating this
myth that I decided to respond to the group. I hope you don't mind, Doris
and Belinda.

Yes, there are brown tree snakes on Guam. Yes, they have destroyed the bird
population. There are no seagulls at our beaches, there are no pigeons
fouling our statues, there are no song birds twittering in the trees.
Sometimes flocks of sparrows fly through on their way north or south with
the seasons.

NO - THE SNAKES ARE NOT DRIPPING OFF THE TREES! In the 5.5 years I have
been here now, I saw my first snake a year ago. I have seen about six dead
on the road since I moved to my new house. I  saw more than that in one
summer in Montana and they were rattlers!!! But our house is far from a
major village. We joke that we are so far out that the pavement ends twice
before you get here. But then how far away can you get on an island that is
only 33 miles long and 9 miles wide at the widest and longest!??? :-)

Thanks for letting me get that diatribe out of my system. I feel better
now!!! Best to all.....

Slainte! Guam is 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time --
Living' in the future -- ain't Life grand!

T. K. Cassidy - Children's Librarian /// Guam Public Library
                             Resident Writer and Storyteller ///
tkc@kuentos.guam.net

Winner of the 1996 Maga'lahi Award for Excellence in the Humanities