Assessing and Mitigating Human, Pet, and Other Nontarget Species Exposure to Acetaminophen Used for Brown Treesnake Control in Residential Areas Before and After a Major Typhoon

Assessing and Mitigating Human, Pet, and Other Nontarget Species Exposure to Acetaminophen Used for Brown Treesnake Control in Residential Areas Before and After a Major Typhoon

Bait—Guam
Boiga irregularis
Invasive species—Control—Guam
Pesticides—Safety measures—Guam

Acetaminophen is an oral toxicant pesticide for invasive brown treesnake (BTS) elimination on Guam and is placed inside the body of a dead neonatal mouse (DNM) for BTS consumption. Bait stations distribute DNM to reduce nontarget species exposure. Acetaminophen has been used in forests and around civil and military infrastructure but not in nonmilitary residential areas. Before acetaminophen can be used in residential areas, risks to nontarget species need assessment. I placed nontoxic DNM around residences and monitored them with cameras capturing species interactions. Simultaneously, I compared a new bait station design to the current standard bait station. Lastly, I compared BTS DNM takes in residential areas before and after Typhoon Mawar. An increase or decrease in DNM takes could pertain to a behavioral change related to the typhoon. Of the DNM taken, 530 were consumed by BTS and 18 were consumed by monitor lizards. No humans or pets were observed interacting with DNM. The novel bait station reduced nontarget species access compared to the standard bait station. BTS DNM consumption increased 34.5% after Typhoon Mawar. Using acetaminophen in residential areas would reduce overall BTS populations, decreasing the chance of stowaways while increasing residents’ quality of life by reducing chances of BTS encounters. The risks of acetaminophen to nontarget species are minimal. Since BTS increase feeding around residences following typhoons, precautions should be taken after storms reducing the chance of BTS stowaways via household goods and vehicle shipments.

Caylin McCormick

University of Guam

May 2024

Dr. Ross Miller, Chair
Dr. Shane Siers, Technical Advisor, USDA-NWRC
Dr. Rachel Jolley, Professor of Restoration Ecology, UOG

Academic use permitted with proper attribution to author. Permission required for other uses, reproduction, or distribution.

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Thesis Manuscript

SP 2024 Thesis_McCormick C_Assessing and Mitigating