Meet Popcorn, our juvenile albino oketee corn snake. She is about 3 years old. She is not poisionus, though she has fangs to grip her food and hold it still while she constricts it. The picture above is her constricting a mouse. We feed her frozen mice that are heated up in a hot water bath and dangled around by the tail using a long pair of tongs so she thinks it is alive. Gross, right. But that is life in the animal kingdom.
Having live animals in the classroom is a wonderful learning opportunity for children. The kids LOVE her! They have responsibilities to help me care for her and maintain her habitat. When we feed her the whole class is gathered around to watch. And of course, watching a snake molt right in front of your eyes is a far richer experience that seeing it on a video. I've discovered over the years that being afraid of snakes is a grown-up thing. I haven't met a kid yet who doesn't want to touch her.
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