EWWW! COUPLE BUYS A HOUSE FULL OF SNAKES!

Some houses turn into moneys pits, but for one Idaho couple their dream home was a real s-s-s-snake pit.

Ben and Amber Sessions bought the sprawling house for a song in 2009, but when they moved, in they discovered the house was infested with thousands of garter snakes.

The ground outside the home sometime looked like it was moving, and the sound of snakes slithering through the walls kept them awake at night.

"It was like living in one of those horror movies," 31-year-old Ben Sessions said.

Experts said the home was likely built on a winter snake sanctuary - called a hibernaculum - where snakes gather to hibernate for the winter.

The infestation meant the family could rarely eat at home because their well water was tainted by a foul smelling musk that snakes release to warn predators.

In the mornings, the couple and their two small sons would do a "morning sweep" to make sure no snakes had made it inside.

"It was just so stressful," 27-year-old Amber said. "It felt like we were living in Satan's lair, that's the only way to really explain it."

Ben Sessions killed 42 snakes in one day before he decided he couldn't do it anymore, and they decided to abandon the home.

"They won," he said.

The couple had purchased the five-bedroom home on five acres in rural Rexburg, Idaho for just under $180,000.

When they bought the house, they signed a document noting the snake problem but had been assured by their real estate agent that it was a tale created by the previous owners when they walked away from their mortgage.

The couple said it seemed like almost everyone else in this tiny southeastern Idaho college town knew about it.

"I felt bad," said Dustin Chambers, a neighbor. "By the time we knew someone had bought it, they were already moving in. It was too late."

But the document the Sessions signed left them with no recourse, so they declared bankruptcy and the house was foreclosed upon. They moved out just three months after moving in.
"We're not going to pay for a house full of snakes," Ben said.

The house did go back on the market briefly a few months back but was quickly pulled.

Owned by JP Morgan Chase, it was listed at $114,900 in December 2010, according to Zillow.com, a real estate data firm. The price was reduced to $109,200 in early January, which was more than $60,000 below its estimated value.

The bank says it has contracted animal trappers to move the snakes before it decides what to do with the property.



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