This Creepy 2-Headed Snake Found In Florida Surely, Definitely Not A Bad Sign Of Things To Come

pile of snakes

iStockphoto / EduardHarkonen


I think there was a time in life when I had convinced myself that I wasn’t a superstitious person but when my Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup this year and I wore the same shirt, drank from the same cup, and sat in the same seat for every game it dawned on me that I’m actually a borderline psycho when it comes to superstition.

So now I’m going to just lean into this new revelation in life and accept that this two-headed snake found just a hop, skip, and a jump from my hometown is clearly a sign that 2020 isn’t done taking a Cleveland Steamer all over our hopes and dreams for a normal life. This two-headed snake simply cannot be an auspicious sign, right? RIGHT??

Two-headed snakes aren’t completely unheard of but they are exceedingly rare. This two-headed Black Racer Snake was found in Palm Harbor, Florida. Black Racer snakes are relatively common in Southwest Florida. I legit used to try and catch these with my cousin on the beaches of Siesta Key when we were little kids but they’re so fast (as the name implies) when they grow larger it was nearly impossible to capture them.

Take a look at this beast that was probably sent from Hell just in time for a full moon on Halloween:

This two-headed phenomenon is known as bicephaly (or polycephaly) and it can happen with cows, pigs, goats, sheep, snakes, and turtles. Most polycephalic snakes in the wild die at a very young age but it’s reported that they can live for quite a while in captivity. This article from 2010 mentions one of these two-headed snakes in captivity living for 20 years. Because these snakes are so rare they can sell for tens of thousands of dollars to collectors.

This can also happen in humans. There have been TV shows about this. You likely learned about it in Biology class at some point in H.S. or College. So while two heads on a species is exceedingly rare it’s not unheard of.