Posted on: Saturday, March 5, 2005

State sets traps for snake reported on Big Island

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

State workers have set out traps after a Kona resident spotted a snake slithering up a tree Thursday.

The man said he was working in the back yard of his Kona Palisades home when he saw a brown, 2 1/2- to 3-foot snake climbing a Christmas berry tree. The man said the snake then slithered off a branch and disappeared in the brush as he approached the tree, according to Janelle Saneishi, Department of Agriculture spokeswoman.

Saneishi said officials were unable to determine what type of snake it is. They would not speculate if it could have been a brown tree snake, a species that decimated Guam's bird population.

A biologist from the Department of Land and Natural Resources joined a plant quarantine inspector on Thursday in searching for the snake. Early yesterday, 10 snake traps baited with live mice were set up.

Saneishi said snake sightings on the Big Island are unusual. The last time a snake was caught there was in May 1999 when a 22-inch gopher snake was found at a nursery in Hilo, according to the Web site for the Department of Agriculture.

Residents possessing illegal animals, including snakes, are subject to stiff penalties. Anyone with information about illegal animals is asked to call the department's pest hot line at 586-PEST (586-7378).

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.