REMEMBER YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
This rare two-headed Western diamondback rattler was
found on a Christoval-area ranch.
Angelo State University is getting an unusual addition to its collection of reptiles and amphibians: a two-headed rattlesnake.
Chris McAllister, a visiting professor of biology at Angelo State University in San Angelo, said he found the snake after turning over 400 to 500 rocks in September at a Christoval-area ranch, where he and students were scouring for interesting specimens.
While two-headed rat snakes and king snakes are relatively common, a two-headed rattler is not, McAllister said.
The tiny Western diamondback rattler, about as thick as an adult human finger, was less than a foot long and appeared to be a month old, he said.
The heads were fused at the neck and functional, although the left head seemed to be the more dominant. Both tongues flicked out of the mouths, and all four eyes were open, he said. Each head had a full set of fangs, but the snake didn’t try to strike at him.
In fact, it was lethargic and refused to eat so he euthanized it, he said. McAllister discovered it had two hearts, two gall bladders, two tracheae and a divided liver.
http://www.landandlivestockpost.com/news/110105snake.php
With two forked tongues and four beady eyes, this slippery character boasts a head start on its rivals in the battle for survival. The bizarre two-headed snake was captured yesterday in a hotel garden in Palma, Majorca. Scientists do not know what made the insect-eating False Smooth Snake — Latin name Macroprotodon Cucullatus — mutate. But expert Professor Gordon Burghardt, from Tennessee, said two heads were NOT always better than one. He added: “Double-headed snakes are very rare, but not unheard of. “The trouble is they have great difficulty deciding which direction to go, so cannot respond quickly to attacks.”
A two-headed black rat snake with separate throats and stomachs survived
for 20 years.
There are several preserved two-headed snake is on display in the
Museum at the Georgia State Capitol Building in Atlanta.
Photo courtesy Saint Louis Zoo
In the early 1980s, a two-headed bull snake was donated to the Saint Louis Zoo. It grew to be about 3 feet long and lived two and half years, an unsually long life span for two-headed animals. The snake had a dominant right head, and keepers had to put an index card between the two heads when feeding the snake so it didn't fight with itself.
