Brown tree snake

Appearance

The brown tree snake is a nocturnal, arboreal species that uses visual and chemical cues in hunting in the tropical rainforest canopy and/or on the ground. It is a member of the subfamily Colubrinae, genus ''Boiga'', which is a group of roughly twenty five species that are referred to as "cat-eyed" snakes for their vertical pupils. The brown tree snake is generally between one and two meters in length in its native range. The snake is long and slender, which facilitates its climbing ability and allows it to pass through tiny spaces in buildings, logs, and other shaded locations where it seeks refuge during daylight hours. Variations in coloration occur in the snake's native range, ranging from a lightly patterned brown to yellowish/green or even beige with red saddle-shaped blotches. They are rear-fanged, have a large head in relation to their body, and can survive for extended periods of time without food.

Naming

Shortly after World War II, and before 1952, the brown tree snake was accidentally transported from its native range in the South Pacific to Guam, probably as a stowaway in ship cargo or by crawling into the landing gear of Guam-bound aircraft. As a result of abundant prey resources on Guam and the absence of natural predators outside of feral pigs and mangrove monitors, brown tree snake populations reached unprecedented numbers. Snakes caused the extirpation of most of the native forest vertebrate species; thousands of power outages affecting private, commercial, and military activities; widespread loss of domestic birds and pets; and considerable emotional trauma to residents and visitors alike when snakes invaded human habitats with the potential for envenomation of small children. Since Guam is a major transportation hub in the Pacific, numerous opportunities exist for the brown tree snakes on Guam to be introduced accidentally to other Pacific islands as passive stowaways in ship and air traffic from Guam. To minimize this threat, trained dogs are used to search, locate, and remove brown tree snakes before outbound military and commercial cargo and transportation vessels leave the island. Numerous sightings of this species have been reported on other islands including Wake Island, Tinian, Rota, Okinawa, Diego Garcia, Hawaii, and even Texas in the continental United States. An incipient population is probably established on Saipan. Acetaminophen has been used to help eradicate the snake on Guam.

Status

Currently, the brown tree snake population on Guam is declining with an equilibrium population size predicted to be roughly 30 to 50 snakes per hectare . The decline in snake population may be identified as a result of depleted food resources, adult mortality and/or suppressed reproduction. That is, the brown tree snake population on Guam has exceeded the carrying capacity of the island.

Behavior

The reproductive characteristics of the brown tree snake are not well known. On average the female produces 4-12 oblong eggs, 42–47 mm long and 18–22 mm wide. The eggs have a leathery shell and as such, the female deposits her eggs in refugia such as hollow logs, rock crevices, and other sites where they are likely protected from drying and high temperatures. Females may produce two clutches per year, but the timing of said clutches may depend on seasonal variations in climate and prey abundance. If conditions for bearing eggs are not hospitable, the female brown tree snake is able to store sperm and produce the eggs several years after mating.The brown tree snake is a generalist feeder known to eat a wide variety of foods, when threatened is highly aggressive and tends to lunge and strike the aggressor repeatedly. The snake has numerous teeth but only the last two on each side of the upper jaw have grooves, which inject venom as it bites. Therefore, the snake’s mouth must be opened as wide as possible to insert and expose their fangs. A chewing movement is used by the snake to inject the venom by means of capillary action along the grooved fangs. The venom is used to subdue and kill prey on which the snake feeds; however, the venom is not considered dangerous to adult humans. In addition to subduing its victim with its venom, the brown tree snake often wraps its body around the prey, like a constrictor, to immobilize the prey while chewing and consuming the animal.

Habitat

The brown tree snake is native to coastal Australia, Papua New Guinea, and a large number of islands in northwestern Melanesia. The species occurs on variably sized islands, extending from Sulawesi in eastern Indonesia through Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and into the wettest coastal areas of Northern Australia. The snakes on Guam represent the only documented reproductive population outside the native range.The brown tree snake is not restricted to forested habitats but can occur in grasslands and sparsely forested areas as well. In Papua New Guinea, it occupies a wide variety of habitats at elevations up to 1,200 m. It is most commonly found in trees, caves, and near limestone cliffs but frequently comes down to the ground to forage at night. It hides during the day in the crowns of palm trees, hollow logs, rock crevices, caves, and even the dark corners of thatched houses near the roof. Based on the frequency of sightings of this snake, in relation to buildings, poultry, and caged birds, the snake is considered to be common in human-disturbed habitats.

Reproduction

The reproductive characteristics of the brown tree snake have not been widely studied. The female is known to produce 4-12 oblong eggs, 42–47 millimetres long and 18–22 millimetres wide with leathery shells. Females may produce up to two clutches per year depending upon seasonal variations in climate and prey abundance. The female deposits the eggs in hollow logs, rock crevices, and other sites where they are likely protected from drying and high temperatures. Populations on Guam may reproduce year round.The reproductive characteristics of the brown tree snake are not well known. On average the female produces 4-12 oblong eggs, 42–47 mm long and 18–22 mm wide. The eggs have a leathery shell and as such, the female deposits her eggs in refugia such as hollow logs, rock crevices, and other sites where they are likely protected from drying and high temperatures. Females may produce two clutches per year, but the timing of said clutches may depend on seasonal variations in climate and prey abundance. If conditions for bearing eggs are not hospitable, the female brown tree snake is able to store sperm and produce the eggs several years after mating.Environmental stressors such as lack of shelter, climate change, overcrowding and loss of prey have been researched as primary causes of diminished snake density as they have been found to have direct correlation with the reproductive success of the snake. Current research on the breeding patterns of the brown tree snake is being conducted in hopes of further understanding how these environmental stressors are affecting the population density of the snake on Guam.

A study conducted by I.T. Moore, predicted that low body condition would correlate to high levels of stress hormones and low levels of sex steroids in free living brown tree snakes on Guam when compared with the native snake population in Australia and snakes held in captivity on Guam. After extensive research, it was found that the body condition in the free living snakes was significantly different than the body conditions of native and captive snakes. The results determined that, "depressed body condition and elevated plasmacorticosteron levels in the free-living animals suggest that a lack of food resources was placing individuals under chronic stress resulting in suppression of the reproductive system." The study suggested that snakes living under stressful conditions such as high population densities or low prey resources had suppressed reproduction at multiple stages including steroidogenesis and gametogenesis.

Food

The brown tree snake preys upon birds, lizards, bats, and rats and other small rodents in its native range. It preys on birds and shrews in Guam.

Due to the availability of prey and lack of predators in introduced habitats such as Guam, they have been known to grow to larger sizes than their normal 1 to 2 metres in length. The longest recorded length of this species is one found on Guam measuring three metres .

Defense

The brown tree snake is a nocturnal, rear-fanged colubrid, possessing two small, grooved fangs at the rear of the mouth. Due to the placement of the fangs and their grooved rather than hollow architecture, the venom is difficult to convey into a bite on a human, and thus is only delivered in small doses. The venom appears to be weakly neurotoxic and possibly cytotoxic with localized effects that are trivial for adult humans; serious medical consequences have been limited to children, who are more susceptible because of their low body mass. The snake has been reported as aggressive, but is not considered dangerous to an adult human. The venom seems to be primarily used to subdue lizards, which can be more easily positioned in the rear of the mouth for venom delivery.