# Amphisbaena **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669 "2012-09-24T12:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/1 "2012-09-24T12:55:42Z")
In this CNN video piece, a couple of Carolina kids claim to have a snake with a head at each end. I can’t get audio here, but it looks for real. It prompts all sorts of questions, including how it goes to the bathroom. > **[Video News - CNN](https://www.cnn.com/videos)** > > Watch breaking news videos, viral videos and original video clips on CNN.com. It looks like that staple of Medieval bestiaries\*, the _Amphisbaena_, the two-headed serpent. When T.H. White was translating and commenting on the Bestiatry in his _Book of Beasts_, he suggested that the amphisbaena might be inspired or sustained by hoaxes in which a false head was painted at the other end of a normal snake. He never considered possible real freaks of this sort. > **[Amphisbaena](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphisbaena)** > > The amphisbaena (/ˌæmfɪsˈbɛɪnə/, /ˌæmfɪsˈbaɪnə/, or /ˌæmfɪsˈbiːnə/, plural: amphisbaenae; Ancient Greek: ἀμφίσβαινα) is a mythological, ant-eating serpent with a head at each end. The creature is alternatively called the amphisbaina, amphisbene, amphisboena, amphisbona, amphista, amfivena, amphivena, or anphivena (the last two being feminine), and is also known as the "Mother of Ants".\[not verified in body\] Its name comes from the Greek words amphis, meaning "both ways", and bainein, meaning "to ... \*although, like many things in the Bestiary, it has deeper roots. The Amphisbaena is described by the Roman author Pliny. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/2 "2012-09-24T13:34:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > …The Amphisbaena is described by the Roman author Pliny. Pliny the Elder? From Eagle River?! ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/3 "2012-09-24T14:28:45Z")
When I click the link, I get a joke about Mitt Romney, not a story about a two-headed snake. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/4 "2012-09-24T14:35:40Z")
I never saw the second “head”. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/5 "2012-09-24T15:06:10Z")
Interestingly enough, there’s an actual family of lizards called [“Amphisbaenidae.”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphisbaenid) And some of them are in the southern US, even. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/6 "2012-09-24T15:06:40Z")
> [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > I never saw the second “head”. They try to zoom in on it, but never get a clear picture for some reason, which makes me skeptical,. But I thought I could see a tongue flicker out of the second head. > [@](#): > > When I click the link, I get a joke about Mitt Romney, not a story about a two-headed snake. Put your partisan joke here. The same URL apparently goes to several CNN video stories. The two-headed snake is one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/7 "2012-09-24T19:05:57Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Pliny the Elder? From Eagle River?! [slight hijack]If it helps, I didn’t have seconds.[/s.h.] ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/8 "2012-09-24T19:08:46Z")
> [@Toucanna](#): > > [slight hijack]If it helps, I didn’t have seconds.[/s.h.] Bless you! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/9 "2012-09-24T19:36:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Bless you! 😃 It’s Vicks. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/10 "2012-09-24T21:14:02Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It prompts all sorts of questions, including how it goes to the bathroom. In pairs. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Owl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@Mister\_Owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Owl)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/11 "2012-09-24T21:22:08Z")
Looks like a hoop snake. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/12 "2012-09-24T21:45:04Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > When I click the link, I get a joke about Mitt Romney, not a story about a two-headed snake. They are not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/13 "2012-09-24T21:49:53Z")
Here’s the correct link. > **[Video News - CNN](https://www.cnn.com/videos)** > > Watch breaking news videos, viral videos and original video clips on CNN.com. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/14 "2012-09-24T21:59:30Z")
There’s a lovely Myra Cohn Livingston poem about the amphisbaena, but I can’t seem to find it, other than a botched version on an .edu page. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/15 "2012-09-24T22:11:43Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It prompts all sorts of questions, including how it goes to the bathroom. Did we ever get an explanation how the [Pushme-Pullyu](http://tigertailfoods.com/wp/?p=2383) did that? ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/16 "2012-09-25T14:38:23Z")
The first thing that came to mind when I read the OP was _The Human Caterpillar_… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/17 "2012-09-25T14:45:25Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > The first thing that came to mind when I read the OP was _The Human Caterpillar_… Well, it’s more like they were sewn together butt to butt. It’s unsound plumbing. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/18 "2012-09-25T15:25:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Well, it’s more like they were sewn together butt to butt. It’s unsound plumbing. Like [CatDog](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBGqgMxXNRo). Link goes to best themesong ever! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/19 "2012-09-25T15:28:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > how it goes to the bathroom. ‘That’s what makes it so mean!’ ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669/20 "2012-09-25T18:43:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In this CNN video piece, a couple of Carolina kids claim to have a snake with a head at each end. I can’t get audio here, but it looks for real. It prompts all sorts of questions, including how it goes to the bathroom. > > \ It eats until it’s full, and then all it takes is one “waffer thin mint” to make a mess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amphisbaena/635669.md?page=2)