Search resumes
for two snakes
on Maui

A boa constrictor and a python are
believed loose around Makawao

By Mike Yuen and Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

Armed with shotguns, rifles, handguns and machetes, state and federal officials are searching Maui for two snakes, one of which is a Burmese python more than 15 feet long.

The other snake is a boa constrictor, believed to be 6 to 8 feet in length. The search was resuming this morning after an unsuccessful hunt last night.

Although they have sharp teeth that can cause severe cuts, both types of snakes are not poisonous.

They usually don't attack adult human beings.

But, said Fred Kraus, the snake expert for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, "If a child gets in the way, there could be problems."

The daily snake hunts were launched when the discovery of molted snake skins was reported Sunday and Monday at Haleakala Ranch in Makawao just 400 feet apart.

Kraus doubts that the snake skins are part of a prank.

"What we don't want to do is blow this off as a hoax. That would be irresponsible," said Kraus, echoing the sentiments of Gov. Ben Cayetano and land board Chairman Michael Wilson.

Scientists and state officials fear an ecological disaster - something similar to the one caused by Guam's brown tree snake - if snakes are introduced and allowed to breed in Hawaii.

"Hawaii, as a virtual snake-free state, is vulnerable to these kinds of alien species," Cayetano said.

"I want to remind all our residents to be vigilant against the serious threat that imported snakes and other dangerous alien species pose to our environment."

The snakes, if real, are also a threat to native species.

They would eat the nene and other ground-dwelling native birds, Kraus said.

Since the molted snake skins were found in a residential area of Haleakala Ranch and at an elevation 2,000 feet above sea level, an altitude cooler than the warm weather Burmese pythons and boa constrictors prefer, Kraus believes someone brought the snakes to Maui. "These snakes are definitely pets or the progeny of pets," he said. "They did not hitchhike on airplanes."

Kraus theorized that someone got tired of the snakes as pets and released them in the area around Haleakala Ranch.

Burmese pythons, native to India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, southern China and large areas of Indonesia, are easy to tame and can grow to 24 feet in length.

They mainly eat small mammals, dogs, cats, birds and, in rare cases, reptiles.

Boa constrictors, found throughout much of tropical South America, can grow to 12 feet in length. Their normal diet is made up of small animals such as mice and rats.

The snake hunt now under way is concentrated in the pasture lands and dense woods of Haleakala Ranch.

Search-team members move six to 10 feet apart in some areas, combing under fallen branches and structures.

The search for the python is at night because it is a nocturnal creature that often feeds in the early evening, state officials said.

Officials said they will try to capture the snakes alive.