HONOLULU A small juvenile snake was captured after it was seen slithering out of a newly arrived visitors backpack Monday night at a Maui vacation rental in Pukalani.
HONOLULU — A small juvenile snake was captured after it was seen slithering out of a newly arrived visitor’s backpack Monday night at a Maui vacation rental in Pukalani.
The owner of the rental informed the visitor and others staying in the rental that snakes are illegal in Hawaii and they reported it to Maui police.
Police contacted Dr. Fern Duvall, program manager of the Native Ecosystem Protection Management – Maui Nui program of the Department of Land and Natural Resources who responded with police and helped to detain the snake overnight. The snake was delivered to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture early Tuesday morning and is being safeguarded on Maui and will be transported to Honolulu.
Duvall, in consultation with an expert on the Mainland, have determined that the snake is a non-venomous southern black racer (Coluber constrictor priapus). The brown-colored snake appears to be a newborn measuring about a foot long and 1/4 inch in diameter. They are mainly found in Florida and the eastern half of the U.S. and may grow up to six feet in length.
HDOA Plant Quarantine inspectors interviewed the visitor and the property owner Tuesday morning and it appears the snake was a stowaway and not purposely transported to Hawaii.
