California Mom Finds 18 Baby Rattlesnakes in Her Kids’ Playhouse

ByElizabeth Licata

I grew up in a big city, so I always envied kids who got to have tree houses or playhouses. I’m not outdoorsy at all, but the idea of having a little space all to oneself sounded great. It’s like a whole house, but tiny and it belongs just to you! Well, now one California family discovered someone else had moved into their playhouse, too. Because the mother just found a family of 18 baby rattlesnakes hanging out in her kids’ playhouse.

If a bunch of baby animals were going to move into the playhouse, why couldn’t it have been something cute like bunnies or chipmunks. Baby deer would be adorable. But according to ABC 7, a mother in southern California heard a “buzzing” sound coming from her kids’ playhouse on Wednesday afternoon. As she looked for the source, a snake popped its head out of the playhouse as if to say, “Holy Snake Jesus, there are humans in my house!”

The playhouse was full of rattlesnakes

Snakes are one thing, but only one kind of snake makes a “buzzing” sound. It had to be a rattlesnake.

She and her husband put a shovel over the snake to keep it in place until animal control could come capture it.

Animal control caught the snake, and they had more news she almost certainly wishes she never heard: They found 18 more snakes in the playhouse.

There’s nothing to do but burn the whole thing to the ground.

Image: Giphy

I’m sorry, you’re just going to have to throw the whole house away. I don’t just mean the playhouse. Your real house is ruined, too. Burn it to the ground. Salt the Earth so no more snakes can grow there. Just grab the kids and run to the nearest city and get a condo in a high-rise at least 30 feet above snake-level. (From now on, I will be referring to the ground as “snake level.”)

I’m pretty afraid of snakes, but the actual mother in this story is more sanguine in the face of venomous wildlife than I would be. She’s not moving or burning anything down. It took the experts about an hour to capture all 18 of the snakes.

The other told reporters she was glad her kids weren’t bitten, because they’d been playing in the playhouse recently. She said she wanted to warn other parents to check outside play areas for snakes. Places that are good for kids to hang out by themselves are also appealing to wildlife, so it’s important to keep an eye out for any new roommates. Especially the venomous kind.

What would you do if you found 18 rattlesnakes in your playhouse? Let us know in the comments.

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(Image: iStockPhoto /SteveByland)

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