The picture above shows a snake with a single clawed foot grown out of its body. This snake was discovered by a 66 year old woman Duan Qiongxiu from Suining, Southwest China, as reported by The Telegraph and few others in September 2009. Mrs. Duan was terrified to discover this one-legged mutant reptile snake in her bedroom. She explained the incident saying:
“I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw.” Mrs. Duan said she was so scared that she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol. The snake was reportedly 16 inches long and was as thick as a little finger.
Snake expert Long Shuai said, “It is truly shocking but we won’t know the cause until we’ve conducted an autopsy.”
A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head. Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens, but these creatures have a very little chance of surviving in the wild as the two heads have a tendency to attack each other.
Currently the snake is being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China’s West Normal University in Nanchang.
