For those interested, I'll try and cover it here. I found it very interesting, which is why I volunteered to work on it. It began like this:
One of the cash products of the Hawaiian Islands is Sugar Cane. (Not the Number one cash product back in the 80s, the number one cash product was agricultural, but illegal.)
The cane fields were lush, green, and filled with tall cane, and ... rats. Big cane rats. The Hawaiians didn't like the rats, they bite. The brilliant minds at University of Hawaii saw video of Mongoose vs. Cobras and the Mongoose always won. "Wow," they thought, "If a Mongoose can kill a Cobra, they should easily kill a cane rat." 
They contacted their peers in India and made arrangements to meet in India to test this theory. Trapping samples of the cane rats, they flew them to India, and dropped them into tanks with the Mongoose. No contest... like dropping a loud mouth drunk into the ring with Ali. A deal was struck and a large number of mated pairs of Mongoose were brought to Hawaii to introduce into the Cane Fields. They sat back to watch their brilliant idea clean up the Rats. 
Small problem. None of the Brilliant Minds in either country stopped to remember that Cane Rats are nocturnal, and Mongoose ... aren't. The only time they met was at the time clock for shift change.
However, the mongoose were excellent hunters and found plenty of native species to dine on. They were also excellent breeders. The U of H minds forgot the Main Rule.... It's not nice to fool with Mother Nature.
It wasn't long until the mongoose covered the island like Squirrels on the mainland. They were everywhere. Problem is, they would eat what they could catch, or find. They were great at eating eggs of things that nested on the ground. Like the Hawaiian Stilt, the Hawaii State Bird. They take the egg, hike it like an NFL center and it skitters across the ground. Doesn't break? Hike it again... hits something to crack it, lap it up. Nesting baby birds... same result, but don't need to hike them.
Stilt population had dropped to less than 300.
Kaneohe Marine Air Station had a Wildlife Preservation Area, Marsh and Ponds, on the base. Prime Breeding area for the Stilt. The base conservationist, PHD, contacted the Rod and Gun Club to see if we would help with a special program to trap the mongoose to protect the Stilts. At first the program was set up by a Navy Chief, Corpman by MOS but also a trained Veteranarian. He was the President of the Rod and Gun Club, and I was the Hunting Chairman at the time.
I was a Sergeant and promoted to Staff Sergeant, just waiting for my number to come up to add my rocker. He knew me well from other jobs we worked together and recommended me for the (federal) Game Warden Program on base. This would allow me to carry a firearm on base, and discharge it in conjunction with that duty. I took over from him. We had dozens of Hav-A-Hart Traps set around the ponds in the marsh and during the first six or eight months we caught about 100 mongoose a month. Then dropped to the fifties. We kept catching them in the forties for the two years I was involved before I rotated back to the states. At the End of the second year of the program, the count for Hawaiian Stilts was up over 1,000 and still climbing. We received the Conservation Organization of the Year from the National Wildlife Federation for the Program.
We baited the traps with Smelt, a nasty little fish. The base acquired them in 100 pound blocks. I thawed them and divided them into one gallon zip lock bags. I orginally drove the pond marshed in a 4x4 pickup, but the hassle of checking it out, then washing it and doing the paperwork was a pain. I eventually just rode the tracks around the pond and through the marsh on my mountain bike. I added a rack and carried the deceased mongoose out on the rack on the back in opague trash bags... didn't want to upset the bleeding hearts.
One of my fellow Marines tagged along to see the procedure we used, and his wife got all upset. Whined that the mongoose were so cute and what we were doing was horrible. I explained we were protecting the state bird and the mongoose were an invasive species, but she wasn't having it. So, I brought one out in a cage so she could see one "Up Close." She ooh'd and ahh'd and wanted to pet it. I told her it was dangerous but she came up anyway. It tried to eat her through the wire. She no longer thought they were cute and cuddly.
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I understand the program continued on base for several years after I left and the PHD helped U 0f H spread the program to other locations around the island. The Stilts did not go extinct after all. I think they still have mongoose on the island.
