We were living in the foothills of the Adirondacks, 23 acres of overgrown farmland. There was a dug well in the back yard, and it housed a colony of DeKays snakes. Pretty olive green on top, lavender underneath, don't smell bad or nip like garter snakes-the perfect show-and-tell for my daughters second grade class with the 'snakes are our friends' message. I contacted her teacher, who thought it was a fine idea. So daughter, her younger sister and I gathered half a dozen snakes in a five gallon pail ang schlepped them to school a couple days later. Carried them into the classroom, saying "The snakes are here, the snakes are here!" Sadly, the regular teacher was out sick that day, and had left her class in the care of a substitute teacher who wasn't prepared for our arrival. The sub may still be on top of the desk, shrieking. Very difficult to deliver the snakes=friends message in that environment. I took the critters back and turned them loose, but my daughters kept catching them and bringing them inside. Sadly, their mom shared the mindset of the substitute teacher-she would occasionally chase snakes on our riding lawnmower, resulting in interesting paths through the tall grass around the house. Teaching the kids to like snakes may have been the cruelest thing I ever did to her. Did I mention that we are not together anymore?