And You Thought The Cold War Was Over?

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Forget about terrorism, nuclear bombs or chemical weapons. When it comes to threats to U.S. security, nothing sends more shivers down American spines than the brown tree snake. Or so says Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, who described the non-poisonous reptile from Guam as a "major disaster looming across the Pacific, pointed at Hawaii and perhaps the southern United States." The slippery villains, who now inhabit Guam at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 snakes per acre, are "everywhere," an excited Babbitt told a Senate budget hearing. They are wiping out native plant species, putting power lines on the fritz and infiltrating sewer systems. The Clinton Administrations solution? One million dollars for fresh research. Senators remain skeptical. Instead of big bucks for scientific dithering, Senator Frank Murkowski, an Alaska Republican who heads the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, suggests offering children a $1 bounty for each snake they nab. "I'll go out with my pile of dollar bills and you come out with your scientists and we'll see who gets more snakes," Murkowski challenged Babbitt. So far, Babbitts not biting.