As students walked into Mr.

Mario Banda’s classroom the

first day back after the holiday

vacation, the sight of five snakes

made some of them uneasy. Soon

they began to get comfortable

after they learned that they were

friendly and non-venomous.

Although there are some students

that still won’t touch or interact

with the snakes, they have

managed to co-exist with the

reptiles

“They give me the chills, but

they don’t bother me as long as

they are in their cages” Celina

Garcia, 11, said.

According to Mr. Banda, at

the beginning of the semester

students tend to be apprehensive,

but by the end of the semester

they are taking pictures and

interacting with the reptiles. The

students learn to trust the snakes

and touch them like normal pets.

“I was scared at first, but then

I got used to them,” Samantha

Rojas, 11, said

Mr. Banda said he used to be

terribly afraid of snakes, too,

though he never knew why.

“It’s just an instinct or a feeling

that you’re born with,” Mr. Banda

said.

His fear lasted until the day a

student gave him his first snake

while he was teaching in Donna.

He now has five snakes living in

his classroom.

“My favorite snake is Ca, the boa

constrictor, who is four years old

and is the second largest snake in

the group,” Mr. Banda said.

He also has a ball python named

Eve, and a corn snake named

Adam, both are four years old. In

addition he has Damen who is a

Macklot’s python, and a Burmese

python named Rachel that he

received for Christmas from his

first period class last semester.

According to Mr. Banda, Rachel

can grow to be 18-25 feet in about

four years, depending on how

often she is fed.

“I feed them mice and baby

chicks once every two weeks,” Mr.

Banda said.

He feeds them in front of

students, and many of them don’t

really care. “We stay out of each

other’s way,” Marco Gomez, 11,

said.

Mr. Banda said he considers

snakes to be tame, interesting

animals to own.