A Customs officer was anything but charmed this week when she went to search the luggage of a returning resident and found a huge snake.

Government is not thrilled about the 31 -foot ball python, either. The unidentified man who brought it in as a gift for his girlfriend could face charges, a spokesman said.

Collector of Customs Mr. Gerry Ardis said a Customs officer at the Airport was opening a piece of checked luggage just after 4 p.m. on Monday when the returning resident warned her: "Watch yourself, there's a snake in there.'' "In fact, there was a snake in there,'' Mr. Ardis told The Royal Gazette .

"The fellow said he was bringing it in as a pet for himself and his girlfriend.'' The officer had a brief look, then quickly zipped up the bag and contacted the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, he said.

A permit is required to import any animal to Bermuda, and a special permit is needed for endangered species like ball pythons, Mr. Ardis said.

It was the first time Mr. Ardis could remember somebody trying to bring a snake through Customs.

Mr. John Barnes, director of Agriculture and Fisheries, said Government is not treating the incident lightly.

A file has been prepared for the Attorney General's Chambers and the unidentified man could face charges, Mr. Barnes said.

Bermuda has no snakes and does not want any, he said.

If snakes were introduced, they could bring diseases that would threaten the endemic skink and other species, he said. Or they could prey on longtail or cahow nestlings.

"We have a delicately balanced ecosystem here,'' Mr. Barnes said. "Mother Nature put no snakes on the Island, and she probably had a good reason for that. We've monkeyed with the environment enough, without making it worse.'' The python -- which is not venomous, but a constrictor that suffocates its prey -- has been taken to a "designated rescue centre'' for endangered animals, which Mr. Barnes did not wish to identify.

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species, Bermuda must have designated rescue centres for rare animals or plants brought to the Island without a CITES permit, he said.

And Bermuda must contact the country of origin to find out whether it wants the snake returned. If needed as evidence in a court case, or considered too unhealthy to travel, the python could stay in Bermuda for a time.

Asked if it might one day be on public display at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, Mr. Barnes said it was "unlikely, but not impossible''.

"We have looked into having a snake at the Aquarium as part of the ongoing exhibit,'' he said. However, snakes require "a lot of specialised husbandry''.

The man, who brought the python from Atlanta, could face charges under Bermuda's Customs regulations, the Care and Protection of Animals Act, and the Endangered Plant and Animal Act, he said.

The sex of the snake was not immediately known, but Mr. Barnes said it was not an egg-bearing female.

SNAKE BITTEN -- This 31 foot-long ball python snake was found in a returning resident's luggage at the Airport on Monday. The owner may be facing charges for importing the endangered species without a permit.