The venomous visitor was initially mistaken for a piece of driftwood by local woman Vicki Breeze, who came across it on Anzac Day.
"I bent down to pick it up thinking it was a beautiful-coloured piece of driftwood. I kicked it a bit — and it wriggled!"
Mrs Breeze said she "freaked out" and went home to tell her partner about it.
A quick Google search showed it was poisonous, so they returned to the beach to remove it.
"It was too dangerous to leave down there."
The snake washed up along a part of the beach frequented by dog walkers, about 100m north of Richards Dr.
Her partner, John Van Dissel, said the snake was close to dead when he arrived. He picked it up and put it into a box.
He still had it and had contacted the Department of Conservation about the find.
Doc told him it was not the first yellow-bellied snake to wash up here, but it was still rare.
"I’ve spent a lot of time further up the beach on a claim and found all sorts of interesting s... but never a snake."
It was not large, only about 55cm long with a head the size of his thumb, he said.
The Hokitika find is the second of its type to wash up after recent wild weather.
On Sunday, a yellow-bellied sea snake was found on Ōmaha Beach, north of Auckland.
Sightings have been increasing due to storms and climate change.
While the snakes were considered native to New Zealand and were found throughout the Pacific, it was "very rare" for them to come on to land, a Doc spokesman said.
As well as being venomous they could be aggressive if touched, and he warned people not to touch or interact with them, and to keep dogs away.
The Omaha Beach sea snake was dead by the time Doc staff arrived. It was believed to have been attacked by a dog and then beaten. The dead snake was taken to Doc’s office in Warkworth to be examined. The public are encouraged to report all sightings to 0800DOCHOT. — Hokitika Guardian
By Janna Sherman
