Gopher Snake Enters Hawaii Illegally
HDOA photo of Nimitz snake, Jan. 25, 2012
MauiNow.com an on-line news outlet for Hawaii is carrying a story by Wendy Osher titled, “PHOTOS: Snake Captured on Oahu, Ferret Found in Hilo.” The article reports an “illegal snake” being weed-whacked to death in Honolulu and an illegal ferret was found in Hilo over the weekend (last weekend). The 24 inch snake was killed by a landscaping crew on Oahu Wednesday morning near the Honolulu airport. A crew from Island Landscaping was cutting grass near a freeway on-ramp, when the snake was injured by the weed-whacker. It died shortly after. Police were notified and the snake was turned over to inspectors with the Hawaii Department of Agriculture. Snakes are illegal to possess and transport to Hawaii because of the threat they pose to native animal populations that they would compete with for food and habitat.
The snake is clearly a member of the genus Pituophis, and given the number of flights each day from the lower 48 (particularly the west coast) to the island paradise it is not too surprising that a common snake species like this one arrived in Hawaii as an accidental tourist. Given its proximity to the airport and the emaciated appearance it seems likely a waif as opposed to an escape pet. It is unknown if the landscape crew asked the snake for a passport or visitor ID before attacking it with the weed-wacker. Really – you can’t make up stories like this.
This post originally appeared on John Murphy’s Serpent Research blog.
John C. Murphy is a retired teacher with field experience in North America, the Caribbean, Central America, Asia, and Australia. He is an experienced wildlife photographer and has authored/co-authored 4 books in the field of herpetology. He is a current Research Associate for the Division of Amphibians and Reptiles at the Field Museum and has served as president of the Chicago Herpetological Society. He can be contacted at fordonia1@comcast.net
