A third grade class in New Jersey was surprised to find a strange snake slithering through their midst Tuesday.
The third-graders in Ms. Reilly's class in the Princeton public school district found the boa constrictor in the back of their classroom.
They thought at first it might have been their class pet, also a boa constrictor they call Cuddles. But when the students saw that Cuddles was still in her cage, they realized this was a new snake.
The kids alerted Ms. Reilly, and she ushered the children out of class as the science teacher came in and removed the snake, according to school officials. He kept it in a cage overnight, and the students named it Zeus.
The science teacher theorized that Zeus was drawn to the classroom by Cuddles.
The students were already comfortable around Zeus because they'd spent time with Cuddles. Ms. Reilly used the opportunity for a creative writing assignment in which the theme was to imagine where he came from.
It's still not clear where he came from. Animal Control picked him up Wednesday.
