No these are not photo manipulations, this is a rare condition known as Polycephaly which basically means, “Having more than one head.”
I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to photograph this creature. I remember the text telling me to bring my camera and the reason why. When I heard about it, I had questions about its behavior for obvious reasons. These questions were answered within moments of meeting it. As I prepared to photograph it, one head appeared to be aggressive (which is a defense for this baby snake), while the other head would pay no attention. I was a bit surprised because the aggressive one would try to strike at me but the indifferent one held the aggressor back because it was not working with its partner. So the aggressive one would only be able to snap but not actually strike. Which for this small of a harmless snake wouldn’t have any impact even if both heads worked together.
While the condition is rare the survival rate is even more rare. It is in my understanding that this particular animal was not an exception to the rule. It would eat, appeared healthy, but did not survive. I was just glad to be one to photograph it. There is a gallery of 25+ images of this animal on my website.
More info: jasontalbottphotography.com
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