Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Help Us Name Our Snake


While you read about our new corn snake’s adventures, you may have been asking yourself whether our new corn snake has a name, or whether we just call him ‘hey, you’.

The answer is, we have several naming ideas but not everyone agrees on which one is best.



Choice # 1 – Nacho.

Why we like it: The scientific name for corn, Zea mays, already inspired the names for our corn snakes, Zea and Maizy. We were going to stop with the food names but Tillamook came with his name, and his rich orange color makes it very appropriate. With corn and cheese names already spoken for, Nacho seemed like a natural to combine the two themes.

Problems with it: It makes some staff members hungry. Since it is never appropriate to eat while handling animals, we just have to stay hungry till our work is finished. Is Nacho too corny a name? Too cheesy?


Choice # 2 - Checkers

Why we like it: If you look closely at the underside of the corn snake, you notice perfect little black and white squares that form a perfect checkerboard motif. This pattern is quite unlike the markings on our other two snakes.

Problems with it: There is already a famous historical dog who was named Checkers. For some, the connection is too strong to use the name on a different species.

What do you think? Please give us your comments on the names – or your write-in candidate not on our list. Don’t let our little corn snake go nameless.

29 comments:

  1. Checkers; not sure I like the idea of food and snakes married together.

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  2. i think that Nacho is perfect and should forever be his name !

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  3. Nacho is an awesome name! And when he eats, you can call him Nachos Grande!

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  4. I'm all in for Nacho. It's so cute!

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  5. I like them both, but after seeing the pattern on his belly, I'd go for Checkers!

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  6. What about Patches?

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  7. My 5 yr old daughter and I agree Nacho is the better choice.

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  8. How about in honor of the Harry Potter exhibit we call him/her Salazar (for Slytherin) or Severus (for Snape)?

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  9. Sir William Biscuit

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  10. Haha, I like Fluffy too.

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  11. I'm thinking Houdini given his recent escapades. However, if there is only a choice, its got to be Nacho!

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  12. First choice: Colonel Bogey.
    Second choice: Nacho. We've already been calling him that for weeks, anyway.

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  13. I like Slyther, but we have three votes for Checkers at my house.

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  14. I have to agree with a previous commenter that Sir William Biscuit has a fantastic ring to it. I might also propose, because of the color, Pumpkin. But if I have to choose from the two given options, Nacho is a clear winner!

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  15. How about Möbius... like a Möbius strip.

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  16. I vote for Nacho. Very memorable. Maybe you can sell a namesake at the Cafe. Hold the mice.

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  17. I've collected votes from Pacific Science center staff and volunteers who were not able to get to the blog. I have four votes for Nacho, two for checkers. On a personal note, I'm not voting, but my child voted for Checkers, bumping the score in this message to 4nacho/3checkers. I also got write-in's for:
    Cornucopia, Twitter, Archie, two write-in votes for Houdini one for cob, one for silkie, and one for Corny. I'm going to say "no" to Houdini since we already have a mole-rat by that name. And Archie and Cornucopia, if we don't use them, should go on the list for future naming opportunities.

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  18. I love Mobius! It's a geek name! Much better than Nacho or Checkers which are way too non-nerdy.

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  19. How about tassle twister, maybe Huskies gold. Put a team name in there and I'm sure that sports fans can come up with some winners!Seattles Gold?

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  20. I vote for "Checkers" or failing that, "Patches".

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  21. Write-in vote for "Flakes". The Corn Snake "Flakes" has a really good ring to it.

    Also the wording is very close to sounding like Corn Flakes

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  22. I LOVE Nacho!

    ~Kate Parker

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  23. My Corn snake is named Pepper and its that colour :L But in liking Nacho!

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