Woman Finds ‘Exceptionally Rare' Venomous Two-Headed Snake In Her Garden

A US woman found an 'exceptionally rare' venomous, two-headed snake while doing a bit of gardening.

Stephanie Myers, from Northern Virginia, was out in her garden last week when she came across the copperhead snake.

Rather than screaming and running a mile, like many of us would have done, quick-thinking Stephanie managed to safely capture the snake and then took some snaps of it, which she posted to Virginia Wildlife Management and Control's Facebook page, asking: "What are the odds to find a two-headed snake?"

And the odds were pretty damn high, according to experts.

The post about the snake quickly came to the attention of herpetologist John D Kleopfer, who wrote that in the 'wild bicephalic snakes are exceptionally rare', before adding that they often died at a young age, because of the 'challenges' of living with two heads.

However, he is now hopeful that the snake, which is currently being cared for by an experienced reptile-keeper, will go to live in a zoo where it can get the attention it needs to survive.

He told USA Today that the snake was young, probably around two weeks old, and that the 'little guy' wasn't much of a threat to humans.

The two-headed snake was around six-inches but when fully grown, copperheads can measure 18-36-inches. And, although usually pretty harmless, they have been known to attack humans if disturbed.

In a post, Kleopfer wrote: "This two-headed copperhead was found in northern Virginia. Wild bicephalic snakes are exceptionally rare, because they just don't live that long. Too many challenges living day to day with two heads.

"Thanks to the Wildlife Centre of Virginia we were able to determine that the left head has the dominant esophagus and the right head has the more developed throat for eating. With a little luck and care, we hope to eventually donate it to a zoological facility for exhibit."

Despite Kleopfer's assurances that the small snake wasn't really a danger to anything other than insects, it hasn't stopped people from posting online to confess that they would have freaked out had they found it in their gardens and I'm with them, to be honest.

Kleopfer added to USA Today that it was now 'his goal to keep it alive'. Best of luck to you, mate.

Topics: US News, Weird, Animals

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19