snake in washing machineThis story couldn't be more sad -- or more horrifying.

An unsuspecting Idaho couple, Ben and Amber Sessions, bought what they believed was their dream home, only to discover after they moved in with their two young children (and another on the way!) that the house was infested with hundreds and hundreds of snakes.

Why were there so many snakes? The five-bedroom house had likely been built on top of a garter snake den where the nonpoisonous reptiles congregate in the fall and winter, rendering the house essentially unlivable: The Sessions could hear the snakes slithering inside the walls; and their drinking water reeked of the foul-smelling musk that the snakes release as a warning to predators.

But here's the clincher: The real estate agent who sold the Sessions the house knew about the snake infestation all along and still convinced them to buy it.

In fact, the whole town knew about the "snake house." The couple who had lived there previously -- who eventually abandoned the property and tried (unsuccessfully) to sue the real estate agent -- even invited a local news station to film the snakes back in 2006.

Unfortunately, the Sessions were oblivious to the house's notorious history: They signed a document that noted the snake infestation, believing the ridiculous story by their real estate agent that the snakes were just an excuse invented by the previous owners to leave their mortgage behind.

And where were the neighbors during all of this? Here's what one had to say:

I felt bad ... By the time we knew someone had bought it, they were already moving in. It was too late.

The Sessions fled the house and filed for bankruptcy; the house foreclosed. Now that it's back on the market and other unsuspecting people are looking at it, maybe it's time for the neighbors to do the neighborly thing and actually warn potential buyers to stay far, far away from this snake trap.

 

Image via shawncampbell/Flickr