CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI (WSIL) -- Families looking for a fun event, can slither to the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center.聽
The facility is holding a sweet 16 birthday party for its two-headed Black Rat snake, which was gifted to them as a baby after a boy in Delta found her on his parents farm.
Jamie Koehler, who is the 聽Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center Assistant Manager, says normally two-headed snakes do not last long since they're an easy target for prey.
"Having two heads or being conjoined twins as they are happens in nature, happens in any kind of species," she explains. "It's just typical that she wouldn't have survived out in the wild because someone would have her for breakfast or lunch."
On top of that, a two-head snake can be its own worst enemy causing other issues in its natural habitat.
"A lot of times, because she has two brains, she wants to go two different directions," Koehler explains. "So she would have been easily spotted and would have ended up being food for somebody."
The lifespan of an average Black Rat Snake is 10 years, but the "twins" have made it to 16 years with the care and protection of the nature center.
To celebrate, visitors can outdoors games, crafts, and of course, cake. Koehler adds the birthday is also a learning opportunity about this type of snacks and reptiles in general.
"Black Rat Snakes are actually called that because a main part of their diet is eating mice, rats, voles, moles shrews," she says. "Things they can find in our yard which could be a vector of disease for us, so they actually help us out in a lot of different ways."
The event is taking place on Saturday, September 4th from 1-3 p.m. Auditorium presentations on Missouri reptiles will take place at 1:00pm and 2:00pm followed by a meet-and-greet with the two-headed snake.
For those interested, more information can be .
