My best friend and her husband are considering taking their first trip to Hawaii. So, when we get a chance to talk, sometimes the conversation leads to one of my favorite topics – Hawaii. As we were chatting this week, my friend asked me what kind of snakes are in Hawaii. Knowing how scared terrified she is of snakes, I was excited to inform her that there are no scary snakes in Hawaii.
That conversation with my friend prompted me to want to republish this post, No Scary Snakes In Hawaii, from our 50 facts about Hawaii series. Here’s good news for fellow snake “chickens” from the around the world:
For those of you who have followed Go Visit Hawaii for a while, you know that I’m an admitted scaredy cat. Let me now share with you that snakes are on my list of the most scary things on the face of the earth. (Is anybody with me?)
One of the many reasons I like visiting the 50th State is that Hawaii doesn’t have scary snakes. That means that I don’t have to be on the lookout for snakes when I’m hiking in Hawaii. Yay!
Hawaii’s Department of Agriculture actively seeks to prevent snakes from arriving and living on the islands. In fact, there’s a hotline (643-PEST) that residents and visitors are encouraged to call if they find a snake.
When a snake is found in Hawaii, it’s huge news. For example, here’s a news release reporting that a snake was found in Hilo Harbor on January 26, 2007. Notice this interesting excerpt:
Snakes are illegal in Hawaii and anyone spotting a snake should not try to handle it. Snakes have no natural predators in Hawaii and pose a serious threat to Hawaii’s environment. Many species also prey on birds and their eggs, increasing the threat to endangered native birds. Large snakes can also be a danger to the public and small pets.
As I was researching this fact, I learned that that Hawaii does technically have a snake, the Brahminy Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus). I’ve learned that this snake is the size of an earthworm. These snakes are non-venomous and harmless to humans – nothing scary at all! Here’s a YouTube video that shows how small they are. In all my hikes around Hawaii, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these. Perhaps I have and dismissed it as just a small worm.
Sheila Beal
3 comments
Yet another reason it is Paradise! :>) Now if we could just get rid of the mosquitos….
My sister and her boyfriend came to visit me once on Oahu and I told her how Hawaii doesn’t tropical birds, monkeys, tarantulas or snakes while we were on a hike.
But then… I told her that Hawaii DOES have these HUGE Wild Boars that sometimes attack people. I told her that fatalities from Wild Boar attacks are somewhat rare but they should still be ready to climb a tree if they see or hear one. (Total lie. They’re about the size of a small dog and run away from people. I’ve never heard of an attack)
After I got them good and scarred… I went up ahead of them until they couldn’t see me anymore and hid up the hill in a bunch of Bamboo. Once they were directly below me… I screamed like a Wild Boar as loud as I could and shook a bunch of Bamboo to make it sound like a Wild Boar was charging down the hill at them.
It worked! – Both of them nearly had a heart attack.