(Contenido disponible en Español está marcado abajo)
Dr. Allison recently released some smooth greensnakes into the Lake County Forest Preserves as part of our ongoing headstart partnership. So we thought we’d share some photos and video from the release and explore these adorable, teeny snakes in more detail.
Meet a smooth greensnake
While she was in the field, Dr. Allison shot a short video to introduce us to an adorable smooth greensnake. Click here to watch it.
Teaching Tip: Does your scientist have questions about why we’re doing this work? You can click here to learn more about our work with the Lake County Forest Preserve District on this important project.
Read all about smooth greensnakes
Dr. Allison was featured in Click magazine. The article talks about her work with the smooth greensnake. It’s perfect for younger readers. Click here to download the pdf.
Guiding Question: How did human activities impact the smooth greensnakes? How did their habitat change? How are people helping the smooth greensnakes now? Why is it important for people to help the smooth greensnakes?
Not all greensnakes are green
Although it may not look like it, this is a smooth greensnake, too! Believe it or not, this brown or “buff” coloration is a less common, but natural, occurrence.
Guiding Question: Compare this snake to the other snakes. How do you think this coloring would impact the snake? Would it be harder for it to hide from predators? Would it be easier?
Learn more about snakes
(Disponible en español)
Want to keep learning about snakes (serpientes)? Click here to check out the book “Snakes” by Patricia Whitehouse in English or click here to check it out in Spanish.
Guiding Question: What do you know about snakes? What is special about the way they move? See? Hear?
Let’s make our own smooth greensnakes!
Create your own smooth greensnake using homemade playdough! Follow the instructions in the link to make homemade playdough, then do your best to make your own slithery snake!
Guiding Question: What are the similarities between your playdough snake and real smooth greensnakes? How are they different?
Behind the Scenes
What does it look like when smooth greensnakes hatch? Like this! Animal caretaker Ashley captured this amazing video.
