PIERCELAND HERALD (Ontario) 26 September 06 Idaho couple‘s home infested with snakes
Wilford, Idaho : The Hepworths knew the house would require some maintenance. But they never thought they‘d need a snake charmer. Shortly after Lyman and Jeanine Hepworth began working on a rundown property outside of town, they experienced a trauma more fit for Samuel L. Jackson‘s character in "Snakes on a Plane" than a pair of eastern Idaho do-it-yourselfers.
"When it warmed up, we walked onto the yard and the whole yard moved," Jeanine Hepworth told the Rexburg Standard Journal.
Last March, the Hepworths were having money troubles. Struggling to pay off their medical bills and make house payments, they sold their old home.
Then they found the snakes — in the lawn, in the living room and in their hair.
In the spring and summer the snakes fan out across the wilds of eastern Idaho, but as the days get shorter and cooler, the snakes return to the resting place — in this case, the Hepworth‘s new home — where they ball up for heat.
The couple has not contacted Fish and Game to move the garters, Hanauska-Brown said. The department would attempt to move the snakes, but it could be difficult because if they move them too far they would die and if they move them close by the snakes would likely return to hibernate, she said.
The Hepworths never moved in, but Lyman Hepworth‘s brother is still making payments, though the seller offered to refund their money when he found out about the infestation.
The video showed snakes slithering on the back porch, climbing up the foundation and a ball of snakes on the side of the home, Jeanine Hepworth said.
Meanwhile, summer has turned to fall. And the snakes that have been out for the summer are making their way back to Hepworth‘s little home in Wilford.
Idaho couple‘s home infested with snakes