Live snake captured at hardware store in West Oahu

Authorities captured a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake at The Home Depot in Kapolei.
Authorities captured a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake at The Home Depot in Kapolei.(Hawaii Department of Agriculture)
Published: Jul. 7, 2022 at 3:23 PM HST|Updated: Jul. 7, 2022 at 4:21 PM HST
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KAPOLEI (HawaiiNewsNow) - Authorities captured a live snake at The Home Depot in Kapolei on Wednesday night.

According to the state Department of Agriculture, authorities responded to a 911 call from store employees around 11 p.m.

The snake was found on a pallet in a shipping container of mixed goods.

Honolulu police officers captured the snake using a bucket. DOA agricultural inspectors took it into custody on Thursday morning.

Inspectors identified it as a non-venomous juvenile gopher snake.

Gopher snakes, found in North America, can grow up to about 7 feet. Their diet typically consists of small rodents, lizards, birds and their eggs.

In Hawaii, snakes are illegal to possess and pose a serious threat to the state’s ecosystem.

Inspectors have conducted a search of the store and asked employees to contact them if they see any other hitchhiking animals.

Anyone with information about illegal animals should call the state’s PEST hotline at (808) 643-7378.

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