S-s-seeing double: Rare albino snake with two heads bred in Florida

By Ted Thornhill


Rare: This albino milk snake was hatched at a wildlife centre in Florida, much to the staff's surprise


Here’s a snake with a split personality.

The odds of a two-headed, or bicephalic, snake being born are 10,000 to one, but nevertheless, this albino Honduran milk snake was recently hatched in the U.S.

Staff at conservation group Sunshine Serpents in Florida were incubating seven milk snake eggs, but got a huge shock when nine heads emerged, because as well as the two-headed snake, one egg contained twins.

Owner Daniel Parker, a University of Central Florida biologist, said: ‘I did a double take. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.’


Often, the term albino refers to white colouring, but for snakes, it simply means a lack of dark pigmentation.

Biologist Parker says two-headed snakes have been documented to live as long as 20 years in captivity.

With two brains giving commands to a single body, he says the snake, which isn’t venomous, would have a difficult time surviving in the wild.

Risk: Biologist Daniel Parker says that the snake may have a hard time surviving in the wild


Milk snakes are said by some to suck milk from cows’ udders, but this is a myth. They do however favour living in barns, as they like cool dark environments, which may be the source of the misconception.

Their diet consists of insects, lizards, birds and small mammals.

Another two-headed creature that hit the headlines this year was an African Spurred Tortoise born in Slovakia.

It was given two names Madga (left head) and Lenka – and even had five feet (see picture below).


Food for thought: The milk snake likes to eat insects, small mammals and birds - but this one will want double portions


Double header: Magda (left) and Lenka make up a seven-week-old African Spurred Tortoise discovered in Slovakia


source:dailymail

Freak snake has double the bite: Gardener finds serpent that has TWO heads

-Both brains try to control reptile's body causing conflicting movements
-Experts fear it may not live very long

By ANTHONY BOND


A gardener had the shock of his life when he came across this slippery customer - a snake with two heads.

Stunned Paul Carver was spraying weed killer outside his property when he spotted a number of young snakes.

On closer inspection he realised one of the reptiles had two heads and, despite its bizarre deformity, was slithering around without any problems.

Mr Carver, from Clarksville, Tennessee, phoned his friend Dale Grandstaff, an officer at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

He said: 'My initial reaction was to step away, I just thought it was weird. Then I thought, what do I do with this thing?'

Officer Grandstaff added: 'With millions of snakes and all the eggs that are laid, there are several babies a year probably born like this.

'But for them to make it in the wild, it's basically impossible.'

He transported the two-headed non-venomous Kingsnake to the Tennessee Tech University where it is being monitored by expert Dr Dan Combs.

But there are fears it may not live for long as the snake's heads appear to have conflicting movements - with the reptile having two functioning brains.

With neither head dominant, both try to control the body and at one stage one head appeared to try to hide under a log in its cage while the other one wanted to stay in the open, and it became 'hung' on a corner of the log.

Rare: There are fears the two-headed snake may not live very long as its two heads appear to have conflicting movements

It is also showing signs of a spinal defect where the heads join which may prevent it from feeding although both heads have been drinking water.

Dr Combs said: 'I was very intrigued. I have seen a number of preserved animals with extra limbs and at least one two-headed turtle that was alive.

'I cannot recall if I have ever previously seen a living snake with two heads.


Bizarre: This two-headed snake was found by gardener Paul Carver outside his property in Clarksville, Tennessee

'We hope to keep it alive, but I am not overly optimistic.

'Both heads drank water soon after we placed it in a cage but I plan to wait a day or two to try to feed it.

'I'm concerned that it may not eat, in which case it will probably live only a few weeks.'

Dr Combs added that if it does eat it could live for up to 20 years and reach 1.8-metres in length but its lifespan could be drastically shortened to around three years due to its abnormalities.


source:dailymail

She's 25ft long, 300lbs and it takes 15 people to hold her: Meet Medusa the world's largest snake (and her friends)

By Daily Mail Reporter


Record breaker: Medusa, seen here cosying up to her new colleagues, will be on display at the Edge of Hell, a haunted house attraction in Kansas City


She weighs more than 300lbs, is 25ft long and it takes 15 people to hold her. Now Medusa is set to slither into the record books as the world's largest snake living in captivity.

The massive python, which will be on display at the Edge of Hell haunted house attraction in Kansas City, eats a 40lb animal about once a week but could easily eat something weighing more than 100lbs.

She will soon be visited by representatives from the Guinness Book of World Records who are coming to verify her new title.


Medusa's trainer Larry Elgar told NBC Action News he isn't intimidated by the monster python.

He said: 'They've actually cut people out of them, they are man eaters.

'Fear is just a lack of understanding. I have no fear. I understand that she can kill me. I've been wrapped up and put unconscious by a reticulated python that was only 18 feet long.

'I understand the repercussions, but that's no reason to fear. That car you drove in has killed more people than anything else in the world. But you're not scared when you put your keys in it, are you?'

Mr Edgar said he bought the seven-year-old snake as a baby and she's still growing.

'Seven years ago, this snake was 24 inches long, as big as my finger,' he said.

Medusa is set to bump Fluffy, a reticulated python, off the top spot.
At 24ft long she held the record for longest snake living in captivity until she died at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Powell, Ohio, last October.

Not so scary: She may weigh 300lbs and could easily kill a human but Medusa's handler says he is not afraid of the giant snake




source:dailymail

Mother left rattled after opening a cupboard to find 5ft SNAKE shaking its tail

By Edward Knight


Terrifying: The 5ft snake was hiding in the darkness of the understairs cupboard and was startled by Mrs Perry opening the door


A mother-of-one was given a shock when she opened a cupboard and found a huge 5ft snake rattling its tail.

Shocked Louise Perry, 49, discovered the black rat snake after she pulled the understairs cupboard door open for a TV repair man.

The mother-of-one was stunned to find the snake staring at her before it slithered away from the light.

Terrified: Louise Perry, 49, discovered the black rat snake in an understairs cupboard where it hid away from light


Miss Perry said: 'The cable TV man wanted a power socket so I opened the door and there was a massive black snake just sitting there.

'It quickly slid away to the back of the cupboard and I screamed 'I've got a snake in the house'.

'I shut the door and freaked out completely. I was shaking." Miss Perry slammed the door shut and the Virgin Media employee called the police who alerted the RSPCA.

When the animal rescue charity worker arrived at the terraced house she was not prepared to deal with such a big snake and had to call for back-up.

Miss Perry, from Portsmouth, Hants, added: "The woman from the RSPCA had a look in the cupboard and when she saw it she was scared herself.

The snake is now being cared for at the RSPCA's Stubbington Ark animal shelter in Stubbington, Hants where it will find a new home if it is not claimed


'She said she had never seen a snake so big and phoned her colleague to come along and help out.

'At one point it rattled its tail and that was when I was absolutely petrified - it must have been angry.

'I told my 14-year-old daughter, Billie, and she stayed in her room the whole time.

'I rang my husband and he said it must be a slow worm - I told him 'that's no slow worm'.

'A snake expert came and was able to deal with it, but it took a good couple of hours.

'He put it in a glass tank and I couldn't even look at it - it was horrid.

'I've got no idea how it got there - we've heard a rumour that a neighbour may have lost a snake recently, maybe it's theirs.' She added: 'I didn't think I had an issue with snakes but when it was here I was so frightened.

'Now when I open cupboards I'm actually nervous and have to double check before opening the door the whole way.'

Unexpected: When the animal rescue charity worker arrived at the terraced house she was not prepared to deal with such a big snake and had to call for back-up.


The black rat snake is most commonly found in America. It has a painful bite and the snake's saliva can contain bacteria which can cause infection.

The snake preys on mice, rats, squirrels and birds, as well as bird eggs, and can live up to 21 years.

It is now being cared for at the RSPCA's Stubbington Ark animal shelter in Stubbington, Hants.

Manager of the Ark Mike Ward said: 'It is an exotic species which is fairly common to be kept as a pet.

'It is not venomous and seems fairly healthy. It needs people who know how to keep snakes in the right type of equipment and the right type of environment.

'We are looking after it for now but if no-one comes forward to claim it we will pass it on to a reptile rescue company who can make sure it finds a new home.'


source:dailymail

The snake escape: Screaming frog hops to safety after 20 minute struggle with serpent

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Fight for survival: The frog holds on for dear life as the snake tries her best to wolf him down

When this snake fancied frog's legs for tea, he didn't reckon on a lengthy struggle with an amphibian who refused to let himself become a fast food snack.

These pictures show how a hardy frog battled with the ravenous reptile for 20 minutes before finally kicking himself free and hopping to safety.

The frog, who had been sunning himself in a back garden in Indonesia, grabbed hold of a branch and held on for dear life after the snake pounced from behind.


Survival of the fittest: Although the snake managed to almost entirely swallow one of the frog's legs, the tenacious amphibian still managed to escape


It seemed the frog's fate was sealed when the red, yellow and black snake wrapped her mouth around his leg and clamped down.

But he somehow broke free and hopped away - bloodied and bruised.

The snake, her fast-food fancy foiled, slunk back into the bushes.

Alerted by the frog's terrified scream, photographer Brizadly Arifin captured this attack in his back garden in Jakarta.

source: dailymail

'I was clenching everything': Terrifying moment a snake slithered up windscreen as SUV sped along highway at 65mph

By Fiona Roberts


It's a miracle the driver managed not to crash - let alone keep in a straight line.

A snake terrified a young mother when it suddenly appeared on her SUV's windscreen after slithering out of the engine as she drove along an expressway into Memphis, Tennessee.

Rachel Fisher said she's not usually scared by snakes but she 'was clenching everything' as she drove at 65mph with the unusual hitchhiker on board - and her three young children in the back.

Scroll down for video

Terror: The huge snake suddenly appears on Rachel Fisher's windscreen as she speeds along the expressway towards Memphis, Tennessee


As she screamed and giggled hysterically, her husband recorded the incident on his camera phone and then posted the video on YouTube, where it has gone viral in just three days.

It happened last week as Mrs Fisher drove her husband, Tony, and their three children Elizabeth, three, Judah, two and Rivers, four months, back to Memphis after visiting her parents in Cordova.

She had been driving for about 15 minutes when her husband suddenly yelled out.

Mrs Fisher told the New York Daily News: 'My husband saw it out of the corner of his eye and did a double-take.

Hitching a ride: The snake slithers along the windscreen

Unwelcome guest: The snake rears up towards the couple as it clings on to their SUV for almost three minutes


'He whipped out his phone and turns it on and captures the whole thing until it falls off.'

The creature spent almost three minutes slithering over the windshield, curling out in front of the car and twisting over the wing mirrors.

Not knowing what to do, Mrs Fisher kept on driving - and trying to stay in a straight line.

She said: 'Usually, snakes don't freak me out that much, but I was clenching everything,

Frightening: The snake winds itself over the wing mirror...

...and then opens its jaws as if ready to strike


'It was really weird. I mean, didn't know what the heck it was. We just knew it was a huge snake and the kids were the in back.'

After two or three minutes, and with nothing to hold on to, the snake fell off. The couple believe it had crawled up in their engine the night before when they were parked in a wooded area, and slithered out when it got too hot.

They made it home without any more drama, and Mr Fisher posted the video on YouTube, where it has so far had more than 26,000 views.




source:dailymail

Parents face 35 years in jail after hungry eight-foot pet python kills two-year-old daughter

By JACQUI GODDARD

Killer: Law enforcement officials remove a pet Burmese python, measuring more than 8 feet long, from the home in Oxford, Florida

A mother is facing up to 35 years in jail for third-degree murder after the pet python she treated 'like a puppy' squeezed her two-year-old daughter to death.

Jaren Hare, 21, and her boyfriend Charles Darnell, 34, went on trial in Florida today, two years after they found Hare's daughter Shaianna dead in her cot in July 2009, with their albino Burmese python, Gypsy, coiled tightly around her and its fangs embedded in her forehead.

Investigators say that the 8ft 6in serpent had not been fed for a month and was kept in a tank at their rural home in Oxford, Florida, with only a duvet thrown over the top, tethered loosely with bungee cords and safety pins, to try to prevent it from escaping.


On trial: Jaren Hare and her boyfriend Charles Darnell are accused of criminal neglect after her daughter was killed by their pet snake


Prosecutors say that the episode was more than just a macabre accident and that Shaianna died as a result of criminal neglect by the couple.

Though the snake was the 'instrument of death', Darnell and Hare were responsible for ensuring the child's safety but showed 'reckless disregard', they assert.


Grieving: Charles Darnell hugs Jaren Hare at their home on July 1 2009

'Those two adult defendants are responsible for the unlawful death of Shaianna Hare,' assistant state attorney Peter Magrino told jurors as the trial opened today.

Gypsy had slithered out of her unsecured tank at least five times in the previous four weeks alone, jurors will hear, including once the night before the toddler was killed, when Mr Darnell found the snake squirming along the hallway and popped it back in its tank.

The next morning, he found it wrapped around the little girl's lifeless body, trying to eat her. He stabbed the reptile several times with a six-inch knife and a meat cleaver to get it off Shaianna, but too late to save her.

'The baby's dead. Our stupid snake got out in the middle of the night and strangled the baby,' he sobbed to an emergency dispatcher after dialling 911.


Under suspicion: Gypsy had slithered out of her unsecured tank at least five times in the previous four weeks alone



Snake: The tank had only a duvet thrown over the top, tethered loosely with bungee cords and safety pins, to try to prevent the python from escaping

source: dailymail

Adders kill two pet dogs: Vets blame warmer weather for surge in deadly snake attacks

By ANDREW LEVY

Shadow, a boarder collie, was killed last month while Daisy May died after being bitten while her owner was recovering from a knee operation


Pet lovers were warned yesterday to be on the lookout for snakes after two dogs died from adder bites.

Vets have reported an increase in attacks, saying the hot weather has encouraged adders out into the open.

One of the canine victims, a King Charles spaniel called Daisy-May, was put down after being bitten in a garden in Canvey Island, Essex.


Maggie Vinten was left devastated by the death of her dog


‘It was really nasty,’ said Carol Toplis, 57, who was looking after the dog for its owners.

‘The venom attacked her organs. She became very sleepy, it was as though she’d had major surgery.’

Vets decided to put the ten-year-old dog down when its kidneys started to fail last week.


Daisy May was taken to the vets to be treated but nothing could be done to save her


Mrs Toplis added: ‘I didn’t realise adders would be around in residential areas. Daisy-May was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

Another dog, border collie cross Shadow, was attacked last month by an adder while she was being walked in a nature reserve near Maldon.

Owner Celly White, 45, said: ‘The vets could see two puncture wounds and her skin was all black and had begun to fall away where it had died.


Sun bather: Adder sits up on a tree stump, to enjoy the sunshine near Godalming, Sussex


‘The vets were wonderful and did everything they could for her. They said they could try a skin transplant and a number of operations but in the end she was in such pain that we had to put her to sleep.

‘With hindsight I wouldn’t have let her off her lead but hopefully more dog owners will be aware of the dangers out there.’

Adder numbers are declining largely because of the destruction of natural habitats. Only 1,000 populations are thought to remain, some with as few as ten snakes.

source : dailymail

The snake with a sssplit personality: Meet the python born with two heads

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


Twice the bite: This python regius, or ball python, was born with two heads in Villingen-Schwennigen, Germany


This is one snake who is likely to be more than a little snappy if provoked.

The mutant black and gold python regius - royal python or ball python - was born in Villingen-Schwenningen, southern Germany, with two heads.


Which way next? The one-year-old snake is now 20in long and appears to be coping well with its mutation


Snake breeder Stefan Broghammer said the slippery customer is around one years old and has grown to around 20 inches.

He said the creature is only the second python known to be born with two heads.
The snake is non-venomous, found in Africa and are a popular pet.

Adults generally grow up to around 4ft and when threatened their instinctively curl into a ball to defend themselves.



Rare: Snake breeder Stefan Broghammer, pictured, said it was only the second time on record of a python being born with two heads


source: dailymail