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Venomous snake found in Market Basket bananas in New Hampshire
The sssneaky stowaway has been rehomed with Beverly-based Rainforest Reptile Shows.
Market Basket really does have it all.
A live venomous snake turned up in a shipment of bananas last weekend at the beloved grocery chain’s Manchester, New Hampshire location, having likely hitched a ride from Central or South America. A conservation officer responded to Market Basket Saturday after employees discovered the stowaway, an Ornate Cat-eyed snake, NH Fish and Game said in a Facebook post.
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Market Basket did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Unharmed, the snake has since found a new home with Beverly-based Rainforest Reptile Shows.
“In general, these situations are uncommon, but they do happen,” explained Mack Ralbovsky, Rainforest Reptile Shows’ vice president. “We actually get probably three to four calls a year for different animals that are actually in shipments, whether that’s a plant shipment at Home Depot or a lumber shipment at one of those hardware stores, or a food shipment to a local grocery store.”
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Still, snakes are a pretty rare find; frogs and bugs are far more common, he said.
“It’s not something that a consumer really has to be concerned about,” Ralbovsky emphasized. “This animal never even made it out to the area where the general public was.”
Established in 1993, Rainforest Reptile Shows offers educational animal programming, operates a nonprofit animal sanctuary, and trains law enforcement on proper reptile handling and identification, Ralbovsky said. By his estimate, the organization has about 300 reptiles in its care, or upwards of about 1,000 animals once invertebrates and birds are factored in.
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The snake from Market Basket is now being housed in a temporary habitat. Ralbovsky said the reptile is in good shape, if a bit underconditioned. Native to places like Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia, Ornate Cat-eyed snakes are nocturnal and primarily feed on amphibians and lizards, he explained.
While the species is considered mildly venomous, cat-eyed snakes are generally calm and rarely attempt to bite, according to Reptiles of Ecuador. Ralbovsky noted the snakes’ venom is most likely to cause pain and localized swelling in humans.
“If it were to bite a human, it’s considered a mild venom, and it’s not over-the-top venom like you hear about with a rattlesnake or a cottonmouth or anything like that,” Ralbovsky added.
The snake found at Market Basket could have a future in educational programming, or it may be placed in an accredited zoo or aquarium, according to Ralbovsky. Rainforest Reptile Shows hasn’t named the snake just yet, though Ralbovsky said they plan to crowdsource names from social media later this week. The organization is also accepting donations to help support the Market Basket snake and its other animals.
“He’s quite the cute individual — or she — and we’re excited to have him in our care,” Ralbovsky added.
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