A passerby bagged a four-foot-long gopher snake Monday morning near the access road to Wal-Mart in Lihu’e. A report from the state Department of Agriculture released Thursday said the person turned the snake in to Kaua’i Police Department officers who
A passerby bagged a four-foot-long gopher snake Monday morning near the access road to Wal-Mart in Lihu’e.
A report from the state Department of Agriculture released Thursday said the person turned the snake in to Kaua’i Police Department officers who responded to a report of a snake sighting.
The snake had apparently been run over by a car and was still alive when turned over to an agriculture inspector on Kaua’i.
The snake, a Pituophis catenifer, has since died.
It is illegal to possess a snake in Hawai’i. Gopher snakes are usually found in North America and can grow up to seven feet in length. Their diet consists of small rodents, young rabbits, lizards, birds and their eggs. They kill their prey by constriction and suffucation.
Persons possessing illegal animals in Hawai’i are subject to stiff penalties, including fines of up to $200,000 and up to three years in jail. Individuals with illegal pets are encouraged to voluntarily turn them in under the state Agriculture Department’s Amnesty Program, which offers immunity from prosecution.
Anyone with information about illegal animals in Hawai’i is asked to call 586-7378 in Honolulu.
