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COURTESY state DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
A boa constrictor found Friday lies in a cage after
being turned over to state agriculture officials.
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A farmworker turned in a 5-foot-long boa constrictor to the state Department
of Agriculture after he spotted it Friday in Kunia.
According to the Agriculture Department, the worker brought the snake to the Plant Quarantine Office at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport on Saturday after he spotted it near bushes along Kunia Road.
He and his nephew captured it and contained it in a trash can overnight.
The nonvenomous snakes are native to Central and South America and can grow up to 12 feet in length. They prey on small mammals such as mice and rats, as well as birds and their
eggs, according to the
Agriculture Department.
Large snakes pose a threat to Hawaii’s environment, the public and small pets.
Individuals who have illegal animals are encouraged to turn them in under the state’s amnesty program, which provides immunity from prosecution.
Illegal animals may be turned in to any state
Agriculture Department office, the Honolulu Zoo or any humane society, no questions asked and no fines imposed.
Anyone with information on illegal animals is urged
to call the PEST hotline at
643-PEST (7378).