PRESS-CITIZEN (Iowa City) 05 October 07 Local kids find 2-headed snake (Dan Williamson)
Photo at URL below: Jonah Dancer, 7, holds a two-headed snake that he and his brother, Jens Dancer, 10, found Thursday in the Devonian Fossil Gorge at Coralville Lake. (Dan Williamson)
Brothers Jens and Jonah Dancer aren't easily startled by strange-looking critters. After all, they've made a habit of finding all kinds of bugs and snakes to bring home.
But even they were caught off guard Thursday when they realized they had found a two-headed snake.
"When we first saw it, we just thought that it had its mouth open," 7-year-old Jonah said. "But when we looked closer, we saw the two tongues moving in and out."
The brothers found the snake while exploring the Devonian Fossil Gorge at Coralville Lake. Their mother, Julie, had brought them there with their little sister, Jae, and baby brother, Jack, to keep them from wasting the day in front of the television set.
Capturing the snake was pretty easy; Jonah just lifted a log and the snake fell into their net. But they had no way to take enough water home with them to keep it alive.
Jae, 4, provided the solution to that problem by lending her brothers one of her boots, which they filled with water from the gorge.
For now, the two-headed reptile is living in an aquarium on the family's patio. The boys, who are students at Hoover Elementary School in Iowa City, plan to take the snake in for show-and-tell today. They'll take it back to the gorge after a few days, Jens said.
Julie Dancer said she encourages the boys to pursue their interest in animals.
"Jens loves catching those bugs, and Jonah loves catching those snakes," she said. "I think Jonah was 3 when he caught his first snake."
She has laid out some rules, however. The boys are allowed to bring critters home "for observation," but they eventually must release the animals back into the wild.
Also, "anything comes inside except snakes," she said. "It's not coming in the house. Nope. Not going to happen."
Local kids find 2-headed snake