All Dominic Guzzo wanted was to take a dip in his spa pool, but those plans were put on pause when the Auckland North Shore man found a snake hidden between his spa and the wall of his house.
Nine non-native snakes have snuck into Aotearoa in the past three years – but fear not, only two were alive.
The Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) said most of the snakes, which are not venomous, came to New Zealand as stowaways in imports such as building materials, furniture and cars.
After a man found a dead snake hidden between his spa pool and his house in January 2023, Stuff asked MPI: just how often has this happened lately?
So, not including the spa snake, there have been nine intercepts in the last three years.
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Wendy McDonald, Biosecurity New Zealand’s manager of surveillance and incursion, said the two types of snakes spotted here are Colubridae and Pythonidae, both “generally non-venomous” and “mostly harmless”.
“The majority of snakes that have been intercepted are not venomous, and are dead snakes associated with imported goods (eg packaging or a pallet) or snakes that have been discovered in a shipping container.”
This was the case for dead snakes found in Blenheim and Auckland in 2020, as well as the Waikato and Invercargill in 2021.
Twice, a snake was found dead in groceries: in Rangiora in 2021, a snake was spied in a box of bananas, imported from Ecaudor. That one was venomous.
And in Wellington that year, a snake was found in dried food.
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Not included in this MPI survey of sneaky snakes is the yellow-bellied sea snake, which isn’t classified as native to New Zealand but has been known to swim around our waters.
But not every snake was found in a dead in a pallet.
In March 2021, a live snake was found in an imported pipe in a Papakura construction site. MPI later suggested it had been sealed into the pipe back in Australia.
At the time, it was captured by MPI snake handlers and euthanised.
And in December 2022, MPI handlers in Rangiora found a live python in an imported caravan.
Every time it happens, the sightings or intercepts are investigated to see exactly how the snake got here, and handle the potential biosecurity risks, McDonald said.
“These investigations are also valuable to identify if we need to make any changes to biosecurity requirements or import pathways requirements.”
Sometimes, all that is found are snakeskin fragments – evidence of a snake but not the entire reptile, suggesting the snake might have shed its skin and slithered off, hopefully before arriving in New Zealand.
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That’s what happened twice in the past three years – once at a Tasman home, in with an item described by MPI as “a keepsake or souvenir”, and another time in May in an imported car part found in Tauranga.
McDonald said the threat of a snake population establishing itself in Aotearoa is taken very seriously.
“This is why we have a multi-layered biosecurity system that involves strict import requirements, checks at the border and surveillance,” she said.
“It is also why we have trained personnel to handle suspected snake detections safely and effectively.
“Alerts from the public are an important part of the biosecurity system. They allow us to act quickly to eliminate biosecurity threats.”
