Fox News: Hawaii store employees discover 2-foot snake in Christmas tree shipping container

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Hawaii store employees discover 2-foot snake in Christmas tree shipping container

Staff at a Hawaii store discovered a two-foot snake inside a shipping container of Christmas trees. The snake was captured and is being safeguarded in Hilo.......                    ...                        ...Employees of a store in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login were in for a slithering surprise after a two-foot snake was found inside a shipping container of Christmas trees sent to the island.......Staff at a Hilo, Hawaii, store spotted the large reptile while they were halfway through unloading a container of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login Saturday, according to a news release from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA).......The stunned employees acted quickly and shut the container, successfully preventing the surprise snake from settling in on the island.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Inspectors from HDOA's Plant Quarantine Branch arrived and quickly captured the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, which they later identified as a nonvenomous gopher snake. ......Officials searched through other trees in the container but did not find any other snakes.......In a photo from the agency, the speckled snake was spotted following capture. The agency said the snake is being held in Hilo and will be safely moved to Honolulu.......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......Gopher snakes can grow up to seven feet and kill their prey, such as You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and rodents, by constricting and suffocating them, according to HDOA.......In Hawaii, snakes do not have any natural predators, and they may be a threat to endangered native birds, humans and small pets. ......You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login......In a statement, Sharon Hurd, chairperson of HDOA, thanked the employees for their quick actions......."Although Plant Quarantine inspectors open every container of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and wreaths that arrive and conduct an inspection, we do not have the resources to inspect every item in each container," Hurd said. "We appreciate the store staff's quick containment of the snake and our Hilo staff's quick response."......According to the agency, Hawaii has received more than 45,000 Christmas trees and wreaths in about 88 containers. A total of 135 containers are expected to arrive this season, according to HDOA.......HDOA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment....

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