Harriet the snake is Liberty High School’s pet boa constrictor who has lived at Liberty for 12 years. She is around 15 years old, but most likely older. Harriet is a rescue animal and is exciting for students to see on their way to science class.
Because Harriet is a boa constrictor, she may have a life span of 20-30 years. She travels one mile per hour, and since she is a female, she can grow up to 15 feet long, which is longer than a male boa.
Harriet’s enclosure is at the end of sophomore hall and one of Liberty’s janitors, Joshua Deichmiller, is her caretaker. She is currently going into her hibernation period and will be in this period for about six months. However, when she is not hibernating, Deichmiller feeds mice to Harriet and attends to her other needs.
Deichmiller says that he is an animal lover, and he also owns many of his own reptiles. At home, his pets consist of a fire belly toad, a bearded dragon, a rose boa, a leopard gecko and three saltwater fish tanks.
Many other students at Liberty also love Harriet. Senior Jaiden Grunkemeyer stated, “She’s so iconic, such a diva.”
Freshman CJ Bergin also had positive words for the snake as she said, “I have hard days, and Harriet makes it better.”
The love for Harriet goes even farther than just verbal feedback. Over the years, students have even drawn pictures of her, which can be seen below and found at her enclosure.
There are many animal lovers at Liberty, such as Senior Quinton Kerr who said “I’ve always owned reptiles and I own a ball python myself… I think it’s special because she’s a rare type of snake to own and not many people are allowed to own them.”
Another student, Sophomore Gracie Allison, stated, “I think that she’s very cute and I like the way that she looks when she goes in the water.”
The environmental club is another group who love Harriet, so much so that they are planning to upgrade her enclosure to be more snake friendly. Freshman Lily Franker explained that the environmental club is going to replace the turf with actual substrate and give her a pool for when she sheds.
They also plan to add more wood to the enclosure for her to rub on and give her more stimulation. Environmental club’s main goal is all about solving issues in the environment and this is a local issue they know can be fixed. The club believes that snakes need just as much love as any other animal.
Harriet also enjoys supporting our students in their classes. Liberty’s AP Government classes recently held their election, and Harriet ‘endorsed’ the Pirate Party. As Grunkemeyer (presidential nominee of the pirate party) stated, “In our campaign commercial, with consent, we filmed her in order to gain publicity because everyone loves her.”
Harriet is a celebrity and an icon to students. She provided popularity and support for the campaign.
