Live Gopher Snake Found at Home Depot on O’ahu
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Staff of an O‘ahu home improvement shop received a slithery surprise from a pallet hitchhiker earlier this 7 days.
According to a information release from the point out Department of Agriculture, a reside snake was captured late Wednesday night, July 6, at the Kapolei Household Depot. Honolulu law enforcement officers, responding to a 911 phone from store employees at about 11 p.m., employed a bucket to capture the snake, which was noticed on a pallet in a shipping and delivery container of blended merchandise.
The snake was taken to the Kapolei Law enforcement Station, exactly where agricultural inspectors from the DOA took custody Thursday morning, July 7. Agriculture inspectors from the DOA Plant Quarantine Department also went to the shop to study the space and informed the retail store to contact the DOA if any other hitchhiking animals ended up noticed.
The snake, recognized by reptile specialists as a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake, actions about 21 inches prolonged. Gopher snakes are observed in North The usa and can expand up to about 7 ft. Their diet consists of modest rodents, youthful rabbits, lizards, birds and their eggs. The snakes destroy their prey by constriction and suffocation.
Snakes are unlawful to possess in Hawai‘i. They have no organic predators and pose a serious risk to the state’s ecosystem.
The DOA reminds the community that those with illegal animals can change them in below the state’s Amnesty System to any DOA office, the Honolulu Zoo, the Pana‘ewa Zoo in Hilo or any humane society, no issues asked and no fines assessed. The highest penalty under point out law for possession and/or transporting illegal animals is a Course C felony, punishable by up to a $200,000 fantastic and up to 3 many years in prison.
Any person with information and facts about unlawful animals ought to simply call the statewide toll-free Pest Hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378). Sightings or captures of illegal animals or invasive species should really also be documented to the hotline.
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