incoming traveller last week has gone on to greener pastures.

"The snake snuffed it,'' Agriculture and Fisheries director Mr. John Barnes said yesterday. "Snakes are finicky things, and this one came in with ticks on it.'' An endangered species, the python was found on the afternoon of January 30 as an Airport Customs officer was searching a piece of checked luggage that belonged to a resident who had flown in from Atlanta.

"Watch yourself,'' the resident was said to have told the officer as she opened the bag. "There's a snake in there.'' The snake, a non-venomous constrictor that suffocates its prey, was subsequently seized by Customs and taken to a reptile holding facility at the Bermuda Aquarium.

It died on Friday morning, Mr. Barnes told The Royal Gazette .

"We haven't got the post mortem on it yet,'' he said. "Various zookeepers have taken samples (from the snake) and sent them off to the experts. The Government vet is also looking at it.'' Although a cause of death has yet to be determined, Mr. Barnes said that the stress of the python's pressurised air trip to Bermuda may have contributed to its demise.

He also told The Gazette that the snake had been fed by its owner shortly before it made the trip.

"It was regurgitating after we seized it,'' Mr. Barnes said. "You never feed snakes before they travel and this one obviously had been. The whole thing was just handled very badly.'' As various endemic species could be threatened by the introduction of snakes to the Island, none of the involved bodies is treating the incident lightly.

Last week, a file on the matter was prepared for the Attorney General's Chambers by the Agriculture and Fisheries Department and the unidentified man who brought the snake to Bermuda could face charges under Customs regulations, the Care and Protection of Animals Act and the Endangered Plant and Animal Act.

In Bermuda, a permit is required to import any animal and a special permit is needed for endangered species.

According to Collector of Customs Mr. Gerry Ardis, who spoke to the Gazette last week, the Airport incident marked the first time in memory that someone attempted to bring a snake through Customs.

"We're very disappointed,'' Mr. Barnes said yesterday. "We were hoping to repatriate it back to its natural habitat.'' Mr. Barnes could not say precisely where the snake had come from. He had earlier confirmed, however, that it was not an egg-bearing female.

DEAD -- The seized python.