Man accidentally brings snake in backpack on plane

HONOLULU: A snake stowed away in a man’s bag and remained undetected until it completed the trip from Florida to Hawaii, officials said. The 20-year-old Virginia man was not aware of the animal until it emerged after he arrived at a vacation rental property in the community of Pukalani. The non-venomous snake measured about a foot (0.3 meters) long and a quarter-inch (0.63 centimeters) in diameter, officials said. The property owner told the visitor that snakes are illegal in Hawaii and alerted police, who captured the snake along with state Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel. The man said he did not intentionally bring the racer snake when he traveled from Florida. The snake is expected to be transferred to Oahu, officials said. Owning or knowingly transporting illegal pets is a felony in Hawaii. Visitors may not understand “the threat that snakes pose to our community and our unique environment,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture. (AP)