DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Todd Kikuta and his beagle Skippy checked pallets of cargo aboard a C-5A that arrived from Guam yesterday. They were inspecting all aircraft inbound from the Western Pacific island for the possible presence of brown tree snakes.

Hawaii steps up
snake detection efforts

Skippy the beagle helps
Hickam teams aiming to
intercept critters from Guam

---

By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

State agriculture inspectors are feeling the pressure to keep the islands free of the brown tree snake, especially since a typhoon has sharply curtailed efforts on Guam to keep the destructive reptile from stowing away aboard Hawaii-bound flights.

Before Supertyphoon Pongsona hit the tiny Pacific island on Dec. 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services employed 41 people and 15 dogs to inspect all of the planes leaving Guam.

Todd Kikuta, state agriculture inspector, said there were more than 3,500 traps laid out around the airports on Guam, located 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

"We're told that that they lost one-third of the traps because of the typhoon," Kikuta said, "and they can't put them back up since there is nothing to hang them on. There also is no gas for the workers to get around to the do the monitoring."

Even before the typhoon struck Guam, Hawaii's four inspectors were already working 12- to 14-hour shifts every day because five positions have not been filled.

Yesterday, Kikuta and canine unit supervisor Lester Kaichi were at Hickam Air Force Base with Skippy, a 5-year-old tan and white Beagle, waiting for a C-5A transport jet to shutdown its four engines.

Armed with a large spotlight, the two inspectors first checked the jet's wheel wells -- favorite hiding spots for the snake that has nearly destroyed the island's native bird population.

Then it was Skippy's turn.

There were only three pallets in the cavernous cargo bay, along with luggage belonging to the flight crew who were returning to Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco.

Skippy sniffed his way past three pallets, finding nothing.

Kikuta, who has been a dog handler and trainer since 1993, said if Skippy had smelled anything suspicious, he would have immediately sat down.

"With no preflight inspections now being held on Guam, we have to step up our operations here," Kikuta said. "We are going to be strapped for awhile, but we are going to handle it."

Although Skippy as yet hasn't caught a snake, Kikuta said the dog searches are 95 percent accurate.

The last brown tree snake found in Hawaii was discovered in August 1998 by a Continental Airlines mechanic. The dead 28-inch reptile was found in the wheel of a plane during routine maintenance.

Since 1981 eight others -- four alive and four dead -- have made it to Hawaii.

Last year, 13,000 brown tree snakes were captured on Guam by inspectors during airport checks.

The state started using dogs to aid in the inspection effort in 1993, Kaichi said.

Kaichi estimated that there are up to 13 commercial flights a month from Guam, with the military adding another 35.

Accounting for the military traffic is the hardest part of the inspection program, Kikuta said, since "we never know what will happen on a given day. They (military aircraft) come in at all different times."

With only four people assigned as inspectors, Kikuta said, "we may miss three flights a month."