Hana snake hunt
to last 2 more weeks

Traps are set for what officials fear
could be a brown tree snake

WAILUKU >> State, county and federal workers plan to continue looking for a reported snake for about two more weeks in the Hamoa area of Hana, even though they have not seen any signs of it since they began searching Thursday.

State Maui Invasive Species spokeswoman Mele Fong said last night that the normal procedure is to look for the snake for three weeks.

Two Hana men said they saw a 3-foot-long snake with a green back and yellow belly slithering across Hana Road in Hamoa last Tuesday night.

Some Maui residents fear it might be a brown tree snake, which has devastated the native bird population on Guam.

Officials from Guam and the Northern Marianas are assisting in the search.

One of them is Haldre Rogers, the federal head of the rapid response team for snake hunting in the Pacific.

Fong said it is too early for snake-hunting experts to conclude what kind of snake was seen without first finding the snake.

"The fact is that there are other snakes that look like the brown tree snake, so they can't rule out the other possibilities," she said.

The hunters have turned to using live mice in a conical container to attract the snake.

Fong said a mouse is placed within a smaller conical cage with a wall blocking any captured snake from eating it.

About 24 traps have been laid within a 200-meter radius of the original sighting, and the hunters are planning to expand the area of the search, she said.