A North American southern ringneck snake has been caught and killed in a Mt Maunganui florist shop.
The male snake, 25cm long and 1cm in diameter, was found on Friday and killed on the spot by a store worker. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry quarantine service staff were called.
The dark-grey snake, which has an orange underbelly and a narrow pale-yellow ring below its head, was sent to an expert for validation and identification over the weekend, MAF exotic animal response co-ordinator Amelia Pascoe said.
The southern ringneck was not venomous and was harmless to humans.
MAF staff and biosecurity detector dogs searched two storage facilities in Mt Maunganui on Saturday but no other snakes were found.
"At this stage we are investigating consignments of imported foliage as the most likely pathway of entry for the snake," Ms Pascoe said.
"The types of goods we are tracing are subject to intensive treatment and inspection at the border, and by importers, so our initial assessment is that the likelihood of any further finds is low."
Five snakes, including poisonous species, made it here in 2000 but only one was caught last year. Ms Pascoe said investigators were trying to trace how the snake got here from America.
- NZPA
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