A live snake, tentatively identified as a nonvenomous ball python, was captured this past weekend by Hawaii County workers on the road next to the Hilo landfill.
The Hawaii Police Department contacted the state Department of Agriculture’s Plant Quarantine Branch in Hilo on Monday and inspectors picked up the snake.
The reptile, estimated to be about 5 feet long, is being transported to Honolulu.
According to the DOA, ball pythons are nonvenomous and common in the pet trade on the mainland.
Native to parts of Africa, they are constrictors that subdue prey by coiling around it, causing death by suffocation. Their diet usually consists of small mammals and birds. Ball pythons can grow to 6 feet long.
Snakes have no natural predators in Hawaii and pose a serious threat to the state’s environment, according to the DOA.
Many species also prey on birds and their eggs, increasing the threat to endangered native birds. Large snakes also can be a danger to the public and small pets.
Anyone who sees or knows of illegal animals in Hawaii should contact the state’s toll-free pest hot line at 643-PEST (7378), or turn them in under the state’s amnesty program.