Kentucky

Two-headed snake found

Hunter York was afraid of snakes, but he couldn’t resist the two-headed reptile he found.

The 10-year-old, of Owensboro, said he picked up the black king snake with a stick, then noticed it had two heads.

“I ran in the house and said, ‘Dad, this snake has two heads.’ And he said, ‘What?”‘ Hunter said. “Kind of freaked me out a little bit.”

The 8 1/2-inch female reptile hasn’t eaten since Hunter found it Oct. 4.

Hunter’s father, Rodney York, loaned the snake Tuesday to snake hobbyist Scott Petty to see whether he could induce it to eat.

“We couldn’t force-feed it, because we don’t know which head eats,” York said.

York said he jokingly named the snake Mary Kate and Ashley, after the teenage TV stars, the Olsen twins.

Washington, D.C.

2003 had warmest September on record

Worldwide, the average temperature for the month was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), according to Jay Lawrimore of the National Climate Data Center. That’s 1.0 degree Fahrenheit above average on records going back to 1880.

The second and third warmest Septembers on record occurred in 1997 and 1998, respectively.

It was a different story in the United States, with some states warmer than average and some cooler, averaging out to an about-average month, temperaturewise.

New Hampshire

Missing boy found dead

A 10-year-old boy who disappeared in the New Hampshire woods was found dead Friday, four days after he became separated from his family.

“He has been found. Unfortunately, he is not alive,” Sgt. Bruce Bonenfant of the Fish and Game Department said.

The boy was found about two miles from where he was last seen playing Monday. He died of exposure, authorities said.

Patric McCarthy, who celebrated his birthday Sunday at the family condo in the White Mountains, was last seen with his stepbrothers. Family members who live in Bourne, Mass., were getting ready to leave, and the boys’ father told them to check back every 15 minutes.

Patric challenged his stepbrothers to a race back to the condo, but he never arrived.