HerpGirl alluded to this during her 06 Jan posting ...
POST-DISPATCH (St. Louis, Missouri) 11 January 06 Two-headed snake fetches no bids in online auction (Elizabethe Holland)
Despite her slick looks, two sets of beady eyes and international recognition, We - St. Louis' rare albino two-headed black rat snake - drew no takers in a weeklong Internet auction.
The World Aquarium, on the second floor of the City Museum, put her up for sale on (bleep) in hopes of raising at least $150,000 for educational, research and other programs. But when the auction closed Tuesday afternoon, not a bid had been made.
Aquarium president Leonard Sonnenschein said he was surprised but not disappointed. The auction attracted worldwide attention, and he expects to make a deal with a zoo or aquarium this week. He wouldn't list names until he has a written agreement but said he had been contacted by two institutions in the United States and a man overseas.
Sonnenschein said the two institutions didn't bid on the snake because many aquariums and zoos are governed by rules that don't allow purchases of animals through auctions. Still, the aquarium felt an auction would make more people aware of the snake and help create a fair market value for We.
"We are a charitable organization, and it behooves a charitable organization to achieve the maximum value for its best interests," he said. "We'll still achieve a reasonable value for the animal and also the best future for the animal."
The aquarium used The Selling Block, a St. Louis-area consignment company, to auction the snake at a starting bid of $150,000. The Selling Block chose (bleep) after eBay, which typically does not allow the sale of live animals, refused to list the snake.
The aquarium acquired the snake days after its birth for $15,000. We was considered not only a curiosity and an educational tool, but an investment, Sonnenschein said. She is now 6 1/2 years old, of breeding age and is expected to live another 10 to 15 years - thus her six-figure price tag.
While We failed to lure bidders, drawings of the slithery wonder and other paraphernalia featuring two-headed snakes have been offered in great numbers - and for far less - on eBay in the last week.
We's name recognition has grown immensely, as her sale has been covered by scores of news organizations, Sonnenschein said.
The offshoot item on eBay most intriguing to Sonnenschein is a piece of toast featuring the image of a two-headed snake cooked into one side. The seller describes it as "unimaginable - unthinkable - unbelievable!!!"
"When I saw the toast, I cried," Sonnenschein said. "I just cried because I was laughing so hard."
By Tuesday evening, there was one bid - for 25 cents. Bidding on the toast ends Monday. Shipping is set at $4.75.
Two-headed snake fetches no bids in online auction
