Is mongoose an invasive species in Big Island

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This. -

What is that animal with the long brown body, long tail, short legs, pointy ears, and beady eyes you saw scurrying into or out of the bushes? Was it a squirrel? A muskrat, or maybe a ferret? More than likely, it was a mongoose in Hawaii. Mongooses (not mongeese) are native to Africa, Asia and some parts of Europe. However, the only place you will find them in the United States is in Hawaii.

Although not native to Hawaii, mongooses are well established on Hawai’i Island (aka; The Big Island), Oahu, Maui, and Molokai. In recent years, there have even been a few found either dead or captured alive on Kauai.

How the mongoose got here is an interesting story. In the 1800s up into the mid-1900s, Hawaii’s most valuable commodity was not pristine beaches and beautiful scenery. That commodity was sugar cane. One of the major problems Hawaii sugar plantations battled during this era was rats chewing on sugarcane stalks for their sweet taste. This infestation destroyed significant amounts of this most valued of crops.

I dinna know that.

Cheers,

J~
 
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I provide a little funding to a missionary in Hawaii. He was bac k between Thanksgiving and Christmas and stopped by. I'm not sure which island he lives on but it isn't the big one. He lives on a farm and they have a problem with feral chickens. He tried shooting them with a break barrel and didn't like the results. He decided he needed a pcp and when he found out I have a few we talked about them. I gave him the same recommendation I give here. P35 or bullshark. He got a 22 bullshark and finds it much more effective on the feral chickens. He likes it a lot. I know nothing about Hawaii but I found his experience interesting and I hope you do too.
 
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Max115 said:
We are vacationing in Kona and we saw a few mongooses in the area. Just wondering if any local air gunner shoot them as I read they were introduced here to help reduce the rat population but unfortunately, the bird population got damaged as a result.

Anyone has any information?
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yes they are considered invasive and are not native to the Hawaiian islands. they were brought over to control the rats that came with ships but they didn't think about the rats being nocturnal and the mongoose being a daytime creature. sigh. humans. then of course the mongoose decimated the bird population which often laid eggs directly on the ground. sigh. humans.
 
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Amazing such poor luck mankind have had with introducing one animal to another place in hope of some form of success.
techna said:
suffocating them with Co2.
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That is also how they do with the fur trade here ( mink ), or soon will again CUZ the PM wiped out that whole trade during that flu thing due to fear of possible mutation among them.
I just say fortunately that flu did not mutate in pigs CUZ that would have earned her a much mightier enemy.
 
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Max115 said:
I guess someone screwed up with the big idea of suggesting mongoose as a solution.

We didn’t see too many birds here so these mongoose definitely impacted the birds population.
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oddly, captive breeds of exotic birds that were set free or inadvertently escaped have become invasive FLOCKS of noisy fruit hungry birds taking over the island where they can. humans. sigh.
 
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Our wizards in the PAGC came up with the idea of reintroducing the Fisher ( Super Weasel) in PA several years ago. The wild turkey were healthy & numerous
both where I live & at my home a county west of me. My Sister had goats & chickens that were watched over by two Great Pyrenees dogs. The dogs were
agitated for several nights , upon investigating some fence lines , tracks told the story . A Fisher was spotted shortly afterwards near a stream while deer
hunting.Now oddly the turkey population is struggling and once again the great minds came up w/ the solution, rifle hunters are taking too many hens in the Fall ( either sex) season! No more rifles in the Fall for turkey. Never mind to make it bearded birds only ( Spring Season). Oh and the Fishers were to take care of the overpopulation of porcupines , which were protected and now have a short season. AND you can still buy extra Spring tags for turkey! I know,,, it's just me..
BTW , I have a lifetime senior hunting license ,only for G-hogs , crows & limited range use, as I no longer pursue the fauna or feathers in the woods, although I have been asked to deal with a problem of a cabin being chewed up by porcupines...
 
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Contndr35BB said:
Our wizards in the PAGC came up with the idea of reintroducing the Fisher ( Super Weasel) in PA several years ago. The wild turkey were healthy & numerous
both where I live & at my home a county west of me. My Sister had goats & chickens that were watched over by two Great Pyrenees dogs. The dogs were
agitated for several nights , upon investigating some fence lines , tracks told the story . A Fisher was spotted shortly afterwards near a stream while deer
hunting.Now oddly the turkey population is struggling and once again the great minds came up w/ the solution, rifle hunters are taking too many hens in the Fall ( either sex) season! No more rifles in the Fall for turkey. Never mind to make it bearded birds only ( Spring Season). Oh and the Fishers were to take care of the overpopulation of porcupines , which were protected and now have a short season. AND you can still buy extra Spring tags for turkey! I know,,, it's just me..
BTW , I have a lifetime senior hunting license ,only for G-hogs , crows & limited range use, as I no longer pursue the fauna or feathers in the woods, although I have been asked to deal with a problem of a cabin being chewed up by porcupines...
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And feral / wild pigs.... oh my gosh they are decimating the environment and local critters.... turtles snakes bird eggs etc... humans... sigh...
 
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Max115 said:
We are vacationing in Kona and we saw a few mongooses in the area. Just wondering if any local air gunner shoot them as I read they were introduced here to help reduce the rat population but unfortunately, the bird population got damaged as a result.

Anyone has any information?
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The Mongoose is on several of the Islands, they were brought over to control the snake and rat populations and completely took over. I was stationed at Schofield barracks for 3 years and a lot of encounters with them. Guam has the same problem but with brown tree snakes.
 
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