You might have heard that a two-headed snake emerged from its shell recently at Sunshine Serpents\u2014and you might have just read that it ate its first meal just in time for Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
There is more to the story of the snake\u2014and more to the story than the snake.<\/p>\n
While watching his albino Honduras Milk Snakes emerge from their eggs a few weeks ago, wildlife enthusiast Daniel Parker had to do a double-take when he saw a double-headed snake. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe what I was looking at, \u201c he says. The fact that the snake was both albino and two-headed was especially surprising.<\/p>\n
A small storm of news surrounded his organization, which works with UCF\u2014Sunshine Serpents\u2014and the snake became a sensation. Naturally, we wonder how rare this kind of thing is and so we go for the figures: 1 in 10,000 snakes emerge from the egg with two heads. That\u2019s pretty rare\u2014and here\u2019s another fact: Parker\u2019s snake is surviving, unlike other snakes.<\/p>\n
See, the snake lives with two minds and mouths and only one body\u2014and each head has a different idea of where that body should be going and what it should be doing. This is one reason these snakes usually don\u2019t survive in the wild or even in captivity. But Parker\u2019s is alive and well.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t help but wonder which head ate the Thanksgiving meal. Will they take turns for future meals?<\/p>\n
But once we get beyond the sensationalism of the snake itself, who is Daniel Parker and what exactly does his organization do?<\/p>\n
Beyond Sensationalism<\/strong><\/p>\n First, I discovered that Sunshine Serpents is about more than serpents. While Parker does focus on reptiles, he is more widely interested in Central Florida\u2019s wildlife as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cFlorida is my home,\u201d he says,\u201d I\u2019m very attached to it and I\u2019m also passionate about preserving it and helping others understand the region\u2019s wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, Parker isn\u2019t just looking for the cool factor involved in breeding pretty snakes for pets or about the sensationalism and attention created by the recent phenomenon\u2014he supports education and works directly with UCF on how to promote and preserve our region\u2019s natural habitat and creatures.<\/p>\n Working directly with UCF\u2019s biology department, the organization is also working on ideas such as \u201cwildlife underpasses,\u201d where animals walk under <\/em>the highways, rather than across, resulting in fewer deaths of Florida\u2019s wildlife (read: less roadkill). His organization has a passion for conservation, care for Central Florida\u2019s ecosystem and active involvement in educating Floridians about their own natural habitat.<\/p>\n Coming To Your Classroom<\/strong><\/p>\n As noted earlier, Daniel Parker isn\u2019t just interested in reptiles\u2014he\u2019s dedicated to a hands-on approach to educating others about Florida wildlife. Parker talks to people of all ages, including classrooms of children, about how to identify venomous snakes in Florida, lets them interact with nonvenomous species and shares his own cross-country experiences. The presentations show attendees what creatures to watch out for and which ones are harmless, as well as show them what other creatures exist across the U.S. Knowing what else is out there can teach you what\u2019s special about our region.<\/p>\n His website also includes a guide to reptiles and amphibians in Florida to help the community learn which to avoid, which are protected by law and what kinds of food nonvenomous species eat.<\/p>\n See a snake in your yard? Want to know what to look out for ahead of time? Or are you just curious about what\u2019s outside your doorstep? Visit Parker\u2019s website at www.sunshineserpents.com<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You might have heard that a two-headed snake emerged from its shell recently at Sunshine Serpents\u2014and you might have just read that it ate its first meal just in time for Thanksgiving. There is more to the story of the snake\u2014and more to the story than the snake. While watching his albino Honduras Milk Snakes emerge from their eggs a…","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":30376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[6,23],"tags":[488],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-30375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-research","tag-biology"],"yoast_head":"\n