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Name the Snakes!
A clutch of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes recently was born at the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest. Curator Rob Carmichael looks at the parents of the baby snakes. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media
Enter the contest!
Submit your entries to pioneerlocal.com/snakes. The deadline is Oct. 20.
Winners each will get three prizes from the Discovery Center: a high-quality baseball cap, a T-shirt, and a mug.
Facts about eastern diamondbacks that might inspire:
• Latin name: Crotalus adamanteus
• Native to southeastern U.S.
• It’s the “Don’t tread on me” snake of the Revolutionary War Gadsden Flag
• They are the biggest of rattlesnakes, with the longest fangs and the most potent venom
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Updated: October 4, 2012 11:26AM
LAKE FOREST — Eight little eastern diamondback rattlesnakes recently were born at the Wildlife Discovery Center, and despite the love for all things scaly at Illinois’ most populous reptile palace, none of them yet have names.
Neither do their parents, despite residence at the zoo for the last three years or so. This is not entirely surprising; it’s hard to work up the affection to name animals which may energetically try to kill you just for looking at them.
In a contest co-sponsored by Pioneer Press/Sun-Times Media, the Wildlife Discovery Center is giving away four sets of prizes to those who come up with the best names for each of the parent rattlers and two of the kids. The other six eventually will be heading off to Kentucky to live a life of venom donation, so we’re just going to call them The Out-of-Towners.
If you want to see the snakes, you can visit them at 1401 Middlefork Drive, Lake Forest. If you want to name them, however, you have to do that on our website — pioneerlocal.com/snakes.
