TIde turning

Can you find the tracks?

I went to school today - Sunday afternoon - to feed the animals and water the plants. I had been there yesterday also. There was something more than routine feeding and watering going on. On Thursday one of my students did not put the top on the snake cage tightly enough and later that day, she was gone. Several students were concerned and looking the next day. Snake three gone. I made my peace with it and told the administrators and other staff that as long as you have students handling animals things like this will happen. Either you cannot have any and have a sterile, no hands on place or you can have them and deal with the occasional consequences.

It all sounded good but I am tired of dealing with so many consequences. Like I told my students I have to come to school most everyday even on the weekends to keep the plants and animals happy. Most of the time it keeps me happy too but when my stuff gets stolen and animals disappear and plants die due to stealth in the former case and mismanagement in the later I grow weary.

When the first snake went awol, I had read about putting flour around the room to see if there was a trail the next day. We never did that and were shocked, rather my colleaugue who hates snakes, was shocked when she showed up in some plant research cabinets (that have never been fixed by the district). This time I decided to try the flour. A student was thoughtful enough to get the flour from the cafeteria during class and then come by afterschool on a Friday afternoon to remind me to spread it.

When I came to school yesterday no tracks and no Sister III at the heating pad I sat out on the floor. Today the tide turned. I noticed two sets of tracks. I was not overly surprised when I saw Sister III under the cage piece of carpet and on the heating pad since she had left a trail. I was delighted. I know how excited the kids will be tomorrow and will not have to deal with yet another disappointment.

I could not get too excited too long. Just after I fed Benita (who snarfed down 14 super mealworms) and I had just put her back in the terrarium, I heard the classroom door from the greenhouse side open. When I turned I saw an officer who had pulled a gun on me. That was a first.

Thankfully, he holstered it quickly when he saw I was not a threat. He asked about the flour and (ID of course). I showed him the tracks in the flour, all the animals and the plants. He said he wished he had a class like this in high school. He also shared about his two pet guinea pigs and left. I am glad somebody is looking out for us.

Finally I got locks on the greenhouse Friday after trying since first getting there in August 08. Greasy, the locksmith, told me he had found a black widow spider in the lock with two prisoners. I wondered what happened to the 214 black widow spider babies from our pet last year that we rescued from the bottom of the school fountain. Greasy also told me about two burmese pythons he kept for six months for a cousin. When he returned them, she called a few days later in great distress. The female had given life birth to 178 babies! Maybe I need to get two snakes and they will be as prolific as the black widow spider or Greasy's python.


Greasy poses after fixing locks and sharing a love for animals.

Maybe the tide will keep turning as I complete the Tapestry grant for $10,000 for my Mississippi Investigates Caterpillars (MIC) project.