Snakeskin trick or trace

By KATHERINE HOBY

A 10-year-old Auckland schoolboy got a Hallowe'en surprise he did not expect when he found what appeared to be the freshly shed skin of a 1.8m snake.

Victor McKenney was trick or treating with his friends when they found the skin in a gutter in Freemans Bay last week.

"I thought it was fish scales, but my friend picked it up and thought it was a snake skin. I touched it again and it felt like a plastic bag."

Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) officials are now hunting its owner, believed to be a 2m-long python or boa.

It is illegal to import or keep snakes as pets in New Zealand. If the snake is found it will be killed.

The youngsters told the occupants of the house the skin was found outside about their find, but they did not believe them.

This did not deter Victor, and after a conversation with an Australian friend at school the next day - "he knows a lot about snakes" - he led his mother, Sarah, back to the skin.

They alerted MAF, and animal biosecurity director Derek Belton said officials were keeping an open mind on the find.

"Unless it's a practical joke, and we can't assume that, we have to conclude there's a real snake out there somewhere," he said.

"The skin was fairly freshly shed and it seems more likely it came in on a snake than in someone's luggage as a souvenir."

The skin is from the Boidae family, of which boas and pythons are members.

The MAF snakecatcher team and specially trained dogs searched the area where the skin was found, but found no sign of a snake.

Further searches will be undertaken.

* Anyone seeing a snake should call the MAF hotline on 0800-809-966. Snakes should not be approached.