Snake Takes Up Residence at
STEM School
Tracey McManus has a real life snake in her class. The third grade teacher and her students at Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School were happy to welcome Kernel to their room.
“I bought the snake because my first grader has one in his classroom,” Mrs. McManus said. “Every day he came home telling stories about him and sharing everything he learned about Sharpie. I came across a PetSmart grant application to get a pet for the classroom. I applied for a snake and two weeks later was approved.”
Corn snakes are thin creatures that grow to a length of two to six feet. They typically are brownish-yellow or orange with large, black-edged red blotches down the middle of the back, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s website.
“Corn snakes are primarily diurnal,” states the Smithsonian’s website. “They readily climb trees and enter abandoned buildings in search of prey. However, they are very secretive and spend most of their time underground prowling through rodent burrows. They also often hide under loose bark and beneath logs, rocks, and other debris during the day.”
“We had a name the snake contest in class and they selected Kernel for his name,” Mrs. McManus said. “He eats one mouse a week. It is frozen, but needs to be thawed before I feed him. Every Thursday children come in early to watch him eat his meal. I have a video of his feeding posted on my eBoard.
“Corn snakes are found in the eastern United States from southern New Jersey south through Florida, west into Louisiana and parts of Kentucky,” according to the Smithsonian. They are found in greatest numbers in the Sunshine State. Corn snakes take a special liking to abandoned buildings, meadows, rocky hillsides, wooded groves, barns and woodlots. A common diet features rats, mice, birds and even bats. They bite the prey and then constrict it to insure suffocation before swallowing it whole.