Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.

“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,” said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.
Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.

The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China’s West Normal University in Nanchang.
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, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.

Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens but have very little chance of surviving in the wild anyway, especially as the heads have a tendency to attack each other.

It’s weekend time!

Falling water has long been a wake up call for architects to create a setting worthy of her. The mobility of sparkling water and the frozen music of stone – what could be more beautiful? Not surprisingly, the fountains are one of the major masterpieces in any city.

Two De Brazza’s monkeys stand together at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. Port Lympne has welcomed a host of new arrivals this year with wildebeest, colobus monkeys, gorillas and rhinos all adding to the current stock. Port Lympne and Howletts Wild Animal parks were set up by the late John Aspinall to protect and breed rare and endangered species and, where possible, return them to safe areas in the wild. The Aspinall Foundation which runs the parks also manages two gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in the central African countries of Gabon and Congo where they have successfully reintroduced over 50 gorillas to the wild. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

An Eland grazes in the African Experience section at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)



A 6 month old Black Rhino calf stands with its mother in its enclosure at Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Baby Baboons play at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Grevy’s Zebra stands in its enclosure at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Western Lowland Gorilla clutces her baby at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A female Ostrich walks along the fence in the African Experience section at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A dog named Yoda looks on during the 23rd Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair on June 24, 2011 in Petaluma, California. Yoda won the $1,000 top prize as the world’s ugliest dog. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Heather Peoples of Phoenix, Arizona pets her dog Reggie during the 23rd Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair on June 24, 2011 in Petaluma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A Chinese Crested named Frankie looks on during the 23rd Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair on June 24, 2011 in Petaluma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A dog named Pabst looks on during the 23rd Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair on June 24, 2011 in Petaluma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Ghada Marta of San Rafael, California holds her dog Handsome Hector during the 23rd Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair on June 24, 2011 in Petaluma, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)