Hawai'i Department of Agriculture inspectors caught a 4-foot boa constrictor in a Hawai'i Kai home yesterday after residents found the snake in their laundry room.

Inspectors were dispatched at about 10 a.m. after the residents called 911. The brown boa constrictor was found coiled behind a bag of rice.

The snake is being held at the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch. Janelle Saneishi, a spokeswoman for the department, said the snake will likely be kept for educational purposes or it may be sent to a reptile farm in Florida. She said no illegal animals that are caught are killed.

The Po'ipu Drive home where the reptile was found is undergoing renovations and the door to the laundry room may have been left open during construction, allowing the snake to enter, said agriculture officials.

Saneishi said inspectors are still investigating where the snake may have come from. She said snakes could be smuggled into the state or "hitch a ride" on cargo.

"It's harder to smuggle something like a 4-foot one, but it could have been smuggled when they were smaller," Saneishi said.

Boa constrictors are not venomous but could be detrimental to Hawai'i's native bird species, Saneishi said.

"It is disturbing if we find snakes at all in Hawai'i," she said, especially because if they escape they could establish a population in the wild.

"There are no natural predators for snakes here. We could end up like Guam — almost birdless," she said, because snakes will feed on any small mammal.

Agriculture officials urge people who own an illegal animal to turn them in under the state's amnesty program, which provides immunity from prosecution. Illegal animals may be turned in to any Agriculture office, the Honolulu Zoo or any Humane Society. Anyone with information on illegal animals should call the Pest Hotline at 586-PEST (7378).

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.