Airborne Snakes

James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

One of the things the Hawaiian Islands have been famous for is that they have no snakes. But although there are no friends or relatives for them to visit, increasing numbers of brown tree snakes are catching the next plane to Hawaii.

The snake is native to the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Thirty years ago, Guam had no snakes either. Now there are up to 30,000 of the slightly venomous snakes per square mile. They were probably inadvertently carried to Guam by military transport planes. Guam’s birds had never seen snakes before and had no natural fear of them. Since brown tree snakes are excellent climbers, most of Guam’s bird species were wiped out.

The snakes’ love of climbing seems to be their ticket to the Hawaiian Islands. They climb airplane landing gears and make the trip in cargo holds or wheel wells. Two snakes were recently discovered on a runway in Oahu on the same day. One died, but the other was still alive when found. Authorities are worried about more than what the presence of snakes might do to tourism. Hawaii’s beautiful tropical birds would be easy pickings for the snakes, just as were the birds in Guam. Experimental snake barriers are now being devised for use at island airports.
    
God protects His creatures by giving them the ability to recognize their enemies. We need to recognize the disguises of our enemies, too. Our greatest enemy, Satan, has been vanquished by the Son of God, Who took the form of a man for our salvation.

Prayer:
Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that You have told us of the forgiveness of sins that has been won for us by Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have also taught us how to recognize our enemy in Your Word and taught us how to flee him. Amen.

Notes:
Yoon, Carol Kaesuk. 1992. “Hawaii’s military, civilian leaders fear brown tree snake invasion.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 19. p. 19A.