A sea snake is the last thing anyone wants to see when they’re thinking about taking a dip in the pool, but that’s what a North Shore man found.
When Dominic Guzzo went to take a dip in his spa, the Auckland man’s plans were put on pause by a snake.
“It was quite bizarre and a bit disconcerting,” he told Stuff.
North Shore resident Guzzo had emptied his spa spool before he went away for his Christmas holiday. When he went to refill it, he got a surprise.
“I thought maybe my flatmate had put a rubber snake back there, but I took a closer look, and it was too detailed for that.”
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The serpent was hidden in a gap between the pool and the wall, and Guzzo had no idea how it got back there. He lives at least a kilometre away from the coast.
When Guzzo found the snake it was dead and dried up, although “still fleshy”, suggesting it had been there for a moderate amount of time.
He speculates the snake may have been in a tussle with a seagull, as something had appeared to have taken a chunk out of its middle.
Dominic Guzzo/Supplied
The snake had a fork in a tale, Guzzo said.
“Maybe the seagull picked it up and dropped it here. That’s just one scenario, but it could be anything.”
The house is also home to two cats that could have potentially taken on the rogue reptile.
A biosecurity officer from the Ministry of Primary Industries visited the house and collected the snake.
An MPI spokesperson said the snake had been dead too long to be able to tell exactly what species it was.
Dominic Guzzo/Supplied
The snake was retrieved by a biosecurity officer from MPI.
“We do know that it was non-venomous, and it is unlikely this type of snake would be able to survive here,” they said.
They said alerts from the public had played a key role in prevent snakes from establishing in New Zealand, and encouraged anyone who saw a snake to get in touch.
It’s certainly not the first time that a slithery sojourner has been spotted on Auckland’s North Shore.
In December 2021, a visitor to Takapuna beach spotted a venomous yellow-lipped banded sea krait. Another had also been seen at the viaduct in the city centre, the month before.
Snakes are naturally transported to Aotearoa from time to time on ocean currents.
According to a report by BioWeb there have been 117 sea snake visitors to New Zealand since the first recorded snake was found in Hokianga Harbour in January 1837.
