Are there really no snakes in Hawaii?

The snakes arrived on earth several million years ago and none of them could ever abide the cold. Wintry weather makes them slow and dull, and in temperate zones most of them hibernate through the coldest months of the year. The early snakes made them¬selves at home in vast areas of the world. But within the last million years or so, some of them got a horrible surprise. The cruel Ice Ages froze large areas of the world and buried them under massive glaciers. No snake in these territories survived the icy invasion. Snakes do not migrate across sizeable expanses of water. When the Ice Ages re¬ceded, many displaced animals returned to reclaim their old territories. Several snakes reached England but none crossed the sea to Ireland. Until recently, no snakes reached the isolated Hawaiian Islands from the mainland. But a certain Indian snake arrived with a few relatives, maybe as stowaways on produce ships from the Orient. These fellows made themselves at home and multiplied in their new l ... more

Yes, it's true that Hawaii has no snakes except in the Honolulu Zoo. That being said, we do have a native animal that is called a blind snake but this animal eats small bugs just as ants and termites so is not a threat to the ecosystem. This "snake" was introduced a while ago and has since established itself. I've lived here all my life and never seen one! http://www.explorebiodiversity.com/Hawai… We also do not have crocodiles or alligators except at the zoo. We do, however, have many insects and bugs. I'm not sure if we have poisonous spiders or not as I've never seen any but that doesn't mean they don't exist here. We don't have any of these animals because of the strict import rules established here. Since we are an island state, the introduction of any species not native here causes widespread damage to our wildlife and eco system. Once an animal is ... more