Two snakes turned in on O'ahu
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
Animal experts yesterday said the number of illegal snakes found in Hawai'i this year has already matched last year's total of four.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Two snakes were turned in last week.
The newest residents at the state's quarantine station: A 2-foot California King Snake, in the Plexiglas box, and a 4-foot ball python. Both are non-venomous.
On Monday, a 4-foot, non-venomous ball python was turned in to the Hawai'i Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch airport office under the state's amnesty program.
On Saturday, a passerby caught a 2-foot, non-venomous California King Snake in Kahuku and called police.
The snakes found on Maui and O'ahu last year included a venomous cobra on a Philippines Airlines cargo jet in April, said Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi. In 2000, two snakes were found here, she said.
"It concerns us if there's any snake found — especially if they're found loose in the wild," Saneishi said.
Lisa Nakayama, Department of Agriculture land vertebrates specialist, said she's encouraged by the number of snakes being turned in, but said snakes shouldn't be here in the first place.
She said the California King Snake found slithering in Kahuku was particularly troublesome to her.
"That means the snake was illegally imported and either ran away from its owner or hitchhiked on something," Nakayama said. "We're very fortunate that it was caught. If this snake got into a native forest, it could devastate the native bird population."
Saneishi said illegal snakes could easily become established in Hawai'i's food-rich environment because they have no natural predators here.
People possessing illegal animals, such as snakes, face fines up to $200,000 and up to three years in prison.
Anyone with information or knowledge of illegal animals in Hawai'i is asked to call the department's Pest Hotline at 586-7378.
