Live Gopher Snake Found at Home Depot on O’ahu

Workers of an O‘ahu home enhancement keep got a slithery shock from a pallet hitchhiker previously this 7 days.

According to a news launch from the state Office of Agriculture, a are living snake was captured late Wednesday night, July 6, at the Kapolei Property Depot. Honolulu police officers, responding to a 911 get in touch with from retail outlet employees at about 11 p.m., applied a bucket to capture the snake, which was noticed on a pallet in a shipping and delivery container of combined products.

The snake was taken to the Kapolei Law enforcement Station, exactly where agricultural inspectors from the DOA took custody Thursday early morning, July 7. Agriculture inspectors from the DOA Plant Quarantine Branch also went to the keep to survey the space and knowledgeable the retailer to get hold of the DOA if any other hitchhiking animals have been spotted.

The snake, discovered by reptile gurus as a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake, steps about 21 inches prolonged. Gopher snakes are observed in North America and can increase up to about 7 toes. Their diet regime is composed of tiny rodents, youthful rabbits, lizards, birds and their eggs. The snakes eliminate their prey by constriction and suffocation.

Snakes are illegal to possess in Hawai‘i. They have no organic predators and pose a severe threat to the state’s ecosystem.

The DOA reminds the public that these with illegal animals can transform them in under the state’s Amnesty Software to any DOA workplace, the Honolulu Zoo, the Pana‘ewa Zoo in Hilo or any humane society, no concerns requested and no fines assessed. The maximum penalty under point out legislation for possession and/or transporting illegal animals is a Course C felony, punishable by up to a $200,000 good and up to 3 yrs in jail.

Any one with details about unlawful animals must simply call the statewide toll-totally free Pest Hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378). Sightings or captures of illegal animals or invasive species really should also be claimed to the hotline.