Whatever
Happened To...
Snake seen near Kaiser
has not been spotted sinceQuestion: What ever happened to the snake spotted near the Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center last month?
Answer: State Department of Agriculture inspectors have been unable to find the snake, which was believed to be a 4- to 5-foot-long boa constrictor.
A Kaiser patient, looking out from the hospital parking structure, first spotted the snake about 10:15 a.m. on Aug. 22 in the nearby grassy area. The patient, familiar with snakes on the mainland, thought it was a boa constrictor.
A police officer and a security guard also reported seeing a snake the same morning.
Agriculture inspectors searched the grassy area near the hospital and the nearby Moanalua Golf Course for five days but could not find the snake.
Glenn Takahashi, acting manager of the Plant Quarantine Branch, said there have been no further sightings of the snake. Officials are not sure the snake was a boa constrictor, but the descriptions provided by the witnesses point to a boa constrictor.
The tan-and-brown snake was seen sunning itself, which may have indicated it had just eaten a meal and was trying to warm itself to digest its food, according to Domingo Cravalho, an Agriculture Department snake expert. After a meal, the snake may hole up for as long as a month, waiting for its next meal, he said.
Anyone who sees a snake should call the Agriculture Department hot line at 586-PEST.
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