Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/two-headed-snake-found-north-carolina/

People often turn to social media when they find a strange animal in their local area. It happened again when a North Carolina woman found a two-headed snake in her home!

The unusual find occurred in Taylorville, North Carolina when Jeannie Wilson snapped a picture of the rare reptile. She posted the picture online to Facebook, asking if anybody could provide some information. She was specifically interested if she should set the snake free or donate it to someone who would care for it in captivity.

The snake was nicknamed “Double Trouble” because of its unique condition. It is assumed to be a baby rat snake, although the exact type of snake is not yet known.

Jeannie posted, “OK Facebook… Anyone out there know a place that would take Double Trouble and care for him/her or should I turn it loose? It’s not poisonous.”

When you look at the video, it seems as if the snake’s heads are working independently. Watch closely and you can see a tongue coming from each of the heads.

It seems as if she found the snake close to her sunroom table. She then called her son-in-law, who wasn’t very far away.

Wilson told Newsweek:

“We were having game night and the door was left open for some air. After everybody left I was in there cleaning up and saw it lying on the floor beside the table. I saw its heads first and couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to kill it so we put it in a jar. Everybody was amazed, ‘wow, a two-headed snake at Nana’s house.’

I put it in a five gallon bucket to give it more room. I went to the science center and… told them what I had, they said ‘we would love to have it.’ They [the local science center staff] told me it was around four months old and was a rat snake and was fixing to shed… I guess that’s why it wasn’t eating.

[The snake is] officially a part of the science center and I can visit anytime I want. I do miss the little fellow…It was very gentle to handle and never offered to bite me.”

National Geographic spoke about the snakes that are born with two heads. In the wild, they don’t have much of a chance of survival, although some have lived longer in captivity. They tend to have difficulty eating.

Surprisingly, the heads will often fight over who gets to eat so it takes a lot of time to feed. During that time, they would be vulnerable to predators. They also have a difficult time knowing which direction to go and if they were being chased, so they wouldn’t stand much of a chance.

National Geographic suggests that one head may even attempt to bite the other for various reasons.

The Guardian weighed in, reporting on a two-headed baby timber rattlesnake that was dubbed “Double Dave”. These snakes suffer from polycephaly, which is associated with the development of the embryo. Think of it as a co-joined twin.

Rat snakes are relatively common in North Carolina and they are not venomous. They do suffocate their prey and eat small mammals and birds.

Currently, Double Trouble is at the Science Center in Hickory.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog