Community Corner
Rare 2-Headed Venomous Snake Found In NoVA Flower Bed
A northern Virginia resident found a mutant two-headed copperhead snake in a flower bed; wildlife experts are caring for the rare creature.
WOODBRIDGE, VA — A northern Virginia resident found a mutant two-headed copperhead snake in a flower bed; wildlife experts are now caring for the rare viper in hopes that it can be transferred to a zoo. A reptiles and amphibians specialist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries says that such animals have a tough time surviving in the wild because the two heads want to take different actions.
Earlier this month, the young Eastern Copperhead was found in a yard in Woodbridge. It was about two weeks old at that point and 6 inches long; it should grow to 18 to 36 inches in length. The finder emailed the Virginia Herpetological Society for identification and state herpetologist J.D. Kleopfer picked up the snake. On Sept. 20, he brought it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for radiographs.
"Wild two-headed snakes are extremely rare – they just don’t live that long," the Wildlife Center posted. "The herpetologist will continue monitoring the snake; if it survives, it will likely be placed in an educational facility."
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The examination found that the snake's left head is more dominant; it is more active and responsive to stimulus. Radiographs showed the snake has two tracheas [the left one is more developed], two esophaguses [the right one is more developed], and the two heads share one heart and one set of lungs.
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"Based on the anatomy, it would be better for the right head to eat, but it may be a challenge since the left head appears more dominant," Wildlife Center staff posted.
Stephanie Myers found the snake in her neighbor's flower bed, and shared photos of it with USA Today. "I wanted to look away but couldn’t stop looking at it. Plays trick on the eyes," she told the newspaper.
Photos of copperhead used with permission of The Wildlife Center of Virginia
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