Live Gopher Snake Found at Home Depot on O’ahu

Staff of an O‘ahu house advancement retailer received a slithery surprise from a pallet hitchhiker before this week.

In accordance to a information launch from the condition Section of Agriculture, a live snake was captured late Wednesday night time, July 6, at the Kapolei Property Depot. Honolulu law enforcement officers, responding to a 911 get in touch with from retail outlet staff at about 11 p.m., utilized a bucket to capture the snake, which was noticed on a pallet in a delivery container of blended merchandise.

The snake was taken to the Kapolei Law enforcement Station, where agricultural inspectors from the DOA took custody Thursday morning, July 7. Agriculture inspectors from the DOA Plant Quarantine Department also went to the retail store to study the region and knowledgeable the keep to speak to the DOA if any other hitchhiking animals have been noticed.

The snake, identified by reptile gurus as a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake, measures about 21 inches extensive. Gopher snakes are found in North The us and can improve up to about 7 feet. Their diet is composed of little rodents, younger rabbits, lizards, birds and their eggs. The snakes destroy their prey by constriction and suffocation.

Snakes are illegal to have in Hawai‘i. They have no normal predators and pose a major risk to the state’s ecosystem.

The DOA reminds the general public that those people with illegal animals can change them in beneath the state’s Amnesty Program to any DOA workplace, the Honolulu Zoo, the Pana‘ewa Zoo in Hilo or any humane culture, no queries questioned and no fines assessed. The utmost penalty underneath point out legislation for possession and/or transporting unlawful animals is a Course C felony, punishable by up to a $200,000 fantastic and up to 3 years in jail.

Any individual with data about illegal animals should really phone the statewide toll-absolutely free Pest Hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378). Sightings or captures of unlawful animals or invasive species should really also be described to the hotline.