Before the dawn of man on the Hawaiian Islands, there were more than 140 species of native birds, today half of which are extinct; these birds were responsible for bringing most of the plant life to the islands. There were also approximately 10,000 species of native insects and 1,000 species of snails, which are mostly extinct. Bats were the only native mammal to travel to the Hawaiian Islands. There are many native species of fish within Hawaii's streams.
Known by many different names, most commonly the Brahminy blind snake, this snake was introduced to and became established in Hawaii during the 20th century. These snakes are often misconstrued for earthworms, except they are not segmented. Blind snakes are shiny and dark brown to grayish black in color, according to the Ohio Public Library Information Network. Ranging between 4 to 6 1/2 inches, it is one of the smallest snakes in the world.
Between 1981 and 1994, seven brown tree snakes were transported to Oahu. Most were found dead or dying near airport runways. This snake has been unable to form a self-sustaining population on the islands of Hawaii. The nocturnal snake hides in small spaces and is easily transported via cargo shipments to various places, which have included Guam, Okinawa, Texas, Saipan, Rota and Diego Garcia, according to the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources.
The state of Hawaii has developed a three-point plan to prevent the brown tree snake from developing a habitat within the state and the devastation the snake caused in Guam, including power outages every three days, death of pets, dangerous snake bites to children and the loss of the poultry business. The first course of action, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, involves the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which traps the snakes in Guam and performs nightly searches at shipping facilities. The second course of action involves searching inbound planes and cargo shipments. Lastly, volunteers are trained on how to find and contain the brown tree snake to prevent a self-sustaining population.
