A New Hampshire conservation officer responded to a Manchester store where a venomous snake was found in a shipment of bananas. Photo courtesy of NH Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division and Operation Game Thief/Facebook
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe
A conservation officer was called to a New Hampshire grocery store where a shipment of bananas was found to be concealing an “unwanted hitchhiker” — a venomous snake.
The New Hampshire Fish and Game Law Enforcement Division said a conservation officer arrived at Manchester Market Basket store following a report of a small snake in a banana shipment. Advertisement
The division said on social media that the “unwanted hitchhiker” was an ornate cat-eyed snake, a venomous species native to Ecuador.
The 2-foot-long snake was turned over to the care of Rainforest Reptile Shows.
“In New Hampshire, any venomous snake aside from the hog-nosed snake is illegal to possess,” Conservation Officer Griffin McKeown told WMUR-TV. “We’ve had a few calls about pet surrenders of ball pythons and stuff like that, but never, never a venomous snake. That’s definitely a first for me.”
Mack Ralbovsky, vice president of Rainforest Reptile Shows, said the snake is venomous, but not especially dangerous to humans.
“They’re actually really adapted to eating things like lizards and amphibians,” Ralbovsky said. Advertisement
