This corn snake was seized during a raid on a Berwick property last week.WILDLIFE officers seized an exotic albino corn snake from a Berwick house last week.
The one-metre snake, native to North America, was discovered after police executed a search warrant on the property on Tuesday.
Several cannabis plants were also seized during the raid.
Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) officers were called to the scene to secure the non-venomous snake.
DSE Senior Investigator Glenn Sharp said exotic reptiles posed a real threat to Victoria’s environment.
“These snakes breed like rabbits, and they thrive in most conditions,” he said.
“Corn snakes could easily establish viable breeding populations in Victoria if they were to escape from captivity or were intentionally released into the wild.
“They would then prey on Australia’s ground-dwelling marsupials and small birds, damaging these populations and providing direct competition to Australian reptiles,” he said.
Mr Sharp said corn snakes were a popular pet in the USA, but were often found in captivity in Australia. “In the past seven years we’ve seized about 70 corn snakes across Victoria, and we believe this is the tip of the iceberg.”
A 33-year-old Somer-ville woman is assisting police with their investigations.
Mr Sharp urged anyone with information about illegal possession or trading of exotic reptiles such as corn snakes to contact the DSE Customer Service Centre on 136 186.
