Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officials got a slippery surprise in Auckland today when a snake was discovered in a shipping container.
The 50 centimetre venomous colubrid snake was discovered in a shipping container which had just brought in a load of Fisher and Paykel washing machines from Thailand.
“It was actually a little bit cold in the container and that was a good thing for us when we tried to capture it, it’s probably finding it a little bit cold compared to Thailand,” says Mose Saseve, MAF snake handler.
Snakes are prohibited in New Zealand and this Thai visitor will be euthanised over the next few days.