Nomination for Class Mascot: Slick, the Gold Dust Corn Snake

I nominate Slick, the gold dust corn snake, as our Herpetology class of Spring 2019 mascot.

As a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus), not only is Slick a representative of the world's most species rich family of snakes (Colubridae) he is also of a species that is found locally in South Carolina.

As a pet herp, Slick embodies an aspect of our class' desire to learn more about herps, because many of us live directly with them and want to know more about and understand them. While Slick's color morph is not one which would be likely to be found in the wild (between the lack of reds and blacks, especially ventrally with no pattern present), this very fact adds to his eligibility as our mascot. It is illegal to own a "wild" or "natural" color morph of a corn snake; thus, by Slick being a non-wild color morph, we can be sure that he was captive bred and not extracted from the wild. Also, then, if a pet corn snake were to be found in the wild, it would be easier for researchers to be able to attribute population shifts directly to the pet trade. This cannot be done with other creatures where the wild colors are kept as pets, except for instances of non-native releases, such as the Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) now found in our area. Additionally, in a more poetic sense, Slick's colors represent our class and our college. As a class, his white venter represents our pure desire for the understanding of and protection for herps. His gold embodies our desires to succeed in these endeavors, and the lighter rings along his dorsum stand for the steps we take along the way to reach those goals. Although Slick is lacking in the maroon that is the primary color of the College and that is possessed by his local, wild relatives, his color does match the color palate used by the College in conjunction with the maroon.

Finally, Slick was among a small group of friendly herps with which we had the pleasure to interact, a group which was quite reptile (Reptilia) and specifically snake (Serpentes) biased. This friendliness further nominates him as our mascot, for the Charleston community as a whole prides itself in its friendly demeanor, as represented by the welcoming pineapple.