Kentucky couple bought dream home only to move in and find at least 25 snakes already living there
A Kentucky couple bought what they thought was their dream home, only to find at least 25 snakes already living there when they moved in.
Jessica and Johnathan Perry, Mercer County residents, moved into their brand-new home in August and discovered a massive snake infestation that had been lurking under their front porch for years.
‘When I walked into the home, I immediately fell in love with it,’ Jessica told Lex 18, not realizing that the property had previously been owned by a notorious reptile lover who’d left many snakes behind.
She told the outlet it was ‘every woman’s cottage-core dream house,’ which led the couple to put in an offer that same day.
Despite hiring home inspectors before closing, the snake den went unsuspected for weeks.
‘I was actually taking out the trash. My son and I were home alone, and I walked out the door to find a snake on the porch. I immediately called my husband and then my dad to try to get somebody to come out here to get it,’ Jessica told WKYT.
The family slowly started finding snakes one-by-one, up to six feet in length, until they decided to call professional help.
‘We hired a contractor to come out and actually dig out the concrete. When they busted through the middle, there were dozens and dozens of snake eggs, new and what looked like several years old,’ Perry told the outlet.
The reptiles were identified as rat snakes that are ‘nonvenomous’ and hunt rats and mice, according to Lex 18.
Perry’s neighbors have since warned the couple of the reputation their house had before moving in.
‘One neighbor had said that, “I’m surprised that the previous owners didn’t tell you all that the snakes were free with purchase”,’ Jessica told the outlet.
According to Jessica, the previous owners never disclosed a snake infestation before the couple bought the home. She told the outlet she found out the property was nicknamed ‘snake house’ due to the ‘decades-old problem’ that was never fixed.
‘What worries us now is that there are multiple dens within the foundation of the home, and in order to eradicate and mitigate that, you essentially have to bust down the entire home, but that’s our worst fear,’ Jessica told the outlet.
The new homeowners’ fear has continued to grow as they have been concerned for their five-year-old son’s safety.
‘Not necessarily that we’d be scared that they’d bite him. Snakes like warmth. So, if they were to get in the upper level and get in the bed or whatever, they could curl up around his neck,’ Jonathan told the outlet.
The couple has described the infestation as a ‘chore’ as searching for snakes has become a bizarre daily routine.
Every evening we get home, we ask each other, “Have you gone to the basement yet to check for snakes?”,’ Jonathan told the outlet.
According to the Institute for Environmental Research and Education (IERE), if a snake is found inside a home it should be identified from a safe distance.
‘If you can identify it as non-venomous and it isn’t causing immediate danger, you may be able to guide it outside. If you’re unsure of the species or it’s venomous, contact animal control or a professional removal service immediately,’ the IERE said on their website.
The Perrys’ plan to remove the snakes and address the foundational problems of the home is expected to cost thousands along with months of work.
‘We just bought the home in August and we’re already financially out thousands and thousands of dollars trying to fix an unanticipated problem that we didn’t have, or we didn’t anticipate having when we purchased it,’ Perry told the outlet.
Kristen Kurrek, a neighbor of the Perrys, described the infestation as a ‘nightmare.’
‘They have had exterminators out, contractors that bust down the porch (where a den was, they thought that was the end of the problem) then just a few days later, more appeared. AND KEEP APPEARING!,’ Kurrek wrote in a fundraiser statement.
Kurrek has started a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for the ‘out of pocket’ materials the Perry family has covered while desperately trying to find a solution to the problem.
Their community has raised over $1,500 of their $2,700 goal, as of Tuesday morning.
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https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16281207/Kentucky-couple-dream-home-25-snakes-living.html
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