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A state agency took care of a rare two-headed copper-headed snake found in a northern Virginia residence on Sunday night.
The venomous snake, a member of the viper family, is an "extremely rare" find in the wild, USAD herpetologist J.D. Kleopfer told USA Today. Kleopfer is a reptilian and amphibian specialist for the Virginia Department of Hunting and Inland Fisheries.
He said the snake is currently being cared for by an experienced viper keeper, hoping that he will one day be exposed in a zoo.
Snakes with such a mutation are struggling to survive in the wild, said Kleopfer. This is partly because both leaders often want to do "two different things".
This particular snake was young – about two weeks old and small – about 6 inches long, according to Kleopfer.
Imaging helped to better understand the physical composition of the snake: "Thanks to the Wildlife Center of Virginia, we were able to determine that the left head had the dominant esophagus and that the right head had the most developed throat to eat," writes Kleopfer in a Facebook post.
Copperheads often reach 18 to 36 inches in length, according to the Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention. Although they are not known to be aggressive, they sometimes attack humans when they are disturbed.
Kleopfer said the "little guy" was probably not very dangerous. At his age, he said that the viper attacked mainly insects.
The snake should not alarm anyone, says Kleopfer. It's his goal to help the snake stay alive.
Stephanie Myers shared some pictures of the viper Sunday night. She said the snake was found in her neighbor's lawn in Woodbridge, Virginia.
"I wanted to look away, but I could not stop looking at it, play with your eyes," she told USA TODAY in a written message.
Among the hashtags of his Facebook post: #sohardnottolookatit, #nobodyhastimeforthat and #justlookingthismakesmeswear.
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