U.S. Department of Agriculture wildlife specialist Jess Guerrero holds a brown tree snake retrieved from one of dozens of snake traps hanging on the Andersen Air Force Base flight line fence on Guam in May 2002. (Lance Cheung/U.S. Air Force)
Sixty community volunteers on Guam caught about 20 brown tree snakes, an invasive species on the island, during a snake hunt and workshop recently at Andersen Air Force Base, according to Joint Region Marianas and the University of Guam.
The command and the university sponsored their second brown tree snake workshop on June 23 at Tarague Beach at Andersen, according to an email Thursday from Lt. Cmdr. Kristina M. Wiedemann, a spokeswoman for Joint Region Marianas.
The two-part event included a workshop on how to identify, safely handle and humanely dispatch the snakes, followed by a nighttime search for the nocturnal reptile, according to Wiedemann.
Visitors line up to see the tables set up to learn about the threat of the brown tree snake in Guam on June 23, 2026. (University of Guam)
She did not describe the methods volunteers used to catch snakes, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture employs professionals to catch the snakes by “spotlighting,” the process of catching the snakes by hand at night.
Their personal protective gear includes snake tongs, steel toe boots and gloves, according to an Andersen news release in January 2008. They also use traps and snake-sniffing Jack Russell terriers to locate the animals.
By spotlighting snake habitats with a flashlight, their scales reflect the light and they become easier to find.
At the workshop in June, the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services set up booths to show participants how the snake negatively impacts the ecosystem and how to identify, safely handle and humanely dispatch the invasive reptile, according to a June 23 University of Guam news release.
The snakes, which are mildly venomous, have erased many of Guam’s native bird and reptile species.
Volunteers and partners spread out for a night hunt at the brown tree snake workshop on Guam on June 23, 2026. (University of Guam)
The university and the joint region command established the workshop in 2025 through a cooperative agreement to create a brown tree snake awareness campaign. The goal is to have military personnel and their families educated about the ecosystem they live in and actively assist in preventing the spread of invasive species.
“The University views invasive species management as a collaborative effort that requires participation from government agencies, researchers, conservation organizations, and the community,” Tayah Hawley, extension associate for the University of Guam Island Conservation Lab, said by email June 26.
Joint Region Marianas, which oversees Department of Defense installations across Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, has safety measures in place to limit the invasive species, according to Wiedemann. The command plays a role in conserving Guam’s natural environment in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Government of Guam, she said.
“Joint Region Marianas employs a comprehensive, multi-layered biosecurity framework combining strict cargo interdiction, physical barriers, mandatory canine and visual inspections, active on-island population control, and targeted community education and training to prevent the spread of invasive species through the Department of Defense transportation network,” she said.
The brown tree snake, native to Melanesia and Indonesia, has affected Guam’s ecosystem for more than 70 years, according to the Agriculture Department. The snake may have arrived in Guam during World War II in military cargo.
