A live skunk that managed to evade capture for several days has finally been caught at Honolulu Harbor, according to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture.

Officials say the skunk was captured Monday night at Pier 1.

Stevedores first spotted the skunk running around the Pier 1 parking lot at 3 a.m. last Thursday. Inspectors from the plant quarantine branch set up traps in the area, but did not catch the skunk.

At midnight on Friday, security personnel from the U.S. Immigration Office at Pier 1 reported spotting the skunk via security camera entering and exiting the property through a fence.

Inspectors responded to the scene in another attempt to capture the skunk, but were not successful.

Then Monday night, USIO security personnel reported seeing the skunk take shelter under a cargo container used for storage. Three inspectors responded, and using a net, pole, and wooden boards, were able to catch the skunk after scaring it out of its hiding place — and “braving the animal’s odoriferous natural defense system.”

Ag officials say it remains unknown how long the skunk had been in the area, or what vessel it may have hitchhiked to the state on. The skunk is being tested for rabies.

Skunks have previously been caught at the pier several times — in June 2022, January and July of 2021, and in February 2018. A skunk was also captured at Kahului Harbor in December 2020. All previously captured skunks have tested negative for rabies, officials said.

Skunks are prohibited in Hawaii, except by permit for research and exhibition in a municipal zoo, HDOA said, as they are recognized as one of the four primary wild carriers of rabies in the U.S.

“Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. and one of the few places in the world that is free of rabies,” said HDOA in a news release.

Sightings of illegal and invasive species should be reported immediately to the state’s toll-free pest hotline at 808-643-PEST (7378).