LIHU‘E — A Tuesday morning report of a dead four-foot black snake found in the middle of Kawaihau Road in Kapahi turned out to be just a rubber children’s toy, authorities say. Resident Joe Terry said he saw the snake,
LIHU‘E — A Tuesday morning report of a dead four-foot black snake found in the middle of Kawaihau Road in Kapahi turned out to be just a rubber children’s toy, authorities say.
Resident Joe Terry said he saw the snake, which he described as “completely black from tail to head, eyes were black, about four and a half feet,” when he left his Kapahi home at around 6:15 a.m.
In a phone interview, Terry said the snake’s tail looked a little run over and that he poked it with a stick to confirm that it was dead, but he did not pick it up or take a picture. He said the snake was about three quarters of an inch in diameter, about three fingers thick, and the head was not “bulging” compared to the body.
When he arrived at work, the three-year Hawai‘i resident told coworkers, “I know there are not supposed to be snakes on Kaua‘i,” and called authorities to report the reptile. Originally from Florida and having grown up handling snakes, Terry said he was “positive” that what he saw in the road was a dead snake.
Kaua‘i Invasive Species Committee Manager Keren Gundersen, who interviewed Terry, said the snake was no longer in the road — about five miles up Kawaihau road — when representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture went out to verify the report.
“Anything introduced throws off the balance of what’s existing in our ecosystem,” Gundersen said, adding that brown tree snakes and other species are threats to birds, especially ground-nesting varieties.
“Brown tree snakes were introduced to Guam and decimated their bird population,” she said, adding that based on Terry’s description of the snake he found in Kapa‘a, it was definitely not a brown tree snake.
Terry said he was asked to use lengths of rope to demonstrate the approximate size and location of the snake, and was showed flashcards that led him to believe the snake he saw was either a python or another species he could not remember when talking to The Garden Island afterward.
Gunderson said she did not want to speculate about the identity of the snake without knowing for certain.
“If we get a snake here, it’s most likely from Guam,” Gunderson said. “People do have snakes in Hawai‘i. It’s a federal offense, but it’s not unheard of.”
Terry called The Garden Island later Tuesday to say a neighbor had told him the snake was just a rubber toy belonging to his young child.
A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Agriculture, who said Tuesday authorities had heard the rumors of the invasive species, on Wednesday morning confirmed in a voicemail message Terry’s report that the snake was not real.
Those with information about snakes, mongeese, other invasive species or “anything unusual” are encouraged to call 643-PEST, Gundersen said.
For more information on real invasive species, visit www.hear.org, www.hawaiiinvasivespecies.org and www.hawaii.gov/hdoa.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com
