A snapping turtle with two heads was found by a woman in Maine as she watched over a bale of turtle hatchlings to ensure their safety as they crossed the road. One of the tiny turtles fell behind the rest of the pack. So Kathleen Talbot of Hudson decided to take a closer look. At first, she couldn’t figure out what was special about the hatchling because it was encrusted in dirt.
Thinking it had two feet in front, Talbot brought the unusual little critter home and rinsed off its coating of dirt. That’s when she discovered that the reptile had two heads. She spoke with NBC affiliate WLBZ2 and described the moment she learned what she had really found, a two-headed snapping turtle.
“I thought he had two feet in the front. I thought he was deformed. I didn’t realize it was two heads until I got him home and washed him. Then he came to life– and was just starving.”
Why did the two-headed snapping turtle cross the road? Maybe it just wanted to be rescued by a kind animal lover who would take it home. If that’s the case, then the little animal couldn’t have done better than crossing paths with Kathleen Talbot. She named the unusual creature Frank and Stein. Although Talbot isn’t planning to keep the snapping turtle as a pet, she does want to ensure Frank and Stein’s survival. At the moment, it isn’t clear how she plans to make that happen.
According to Bangor Daily News , the snapping turtle with two heads is living on a diet of worms, flies and reptile pellets. Both heads have eaten the hand-picked insects and pellets provided by Talbot, who has been caring for the creature since she found it on September 24, 2014.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , a man made headlines after killing and eating an alligator snapping turtle . A Texas man captured an alligator snapping turtle but was told by police that he couldn’t keep it. Police issued 36-year-old Timothy Anderson a fine for possession of the reptile. When they arrived at his home with a warrant for failing to pay the fine, they discovered something rather disheartening. Anderson had already cleaned, cooked, and eaten the rare turtle.
In another story by The Inquisitr , a man caught a giant snapping turtle and snapped (pun intended) a photo of the catch before releasing the creature whence it came. The picture of the oversize snapping turtle was posted on the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife’s Facebook page. It quickly went viral as people shared the image of the scary-looking reptile . Yet experts say, “They’re everywhere.” It is unknown whether the critter in the pic is a common snapping turtle or an alligator snapping turtle, which would be a rarer find.
[Image two-headed snapping turtle via YouTube screenshot]