Living In The Walls: This Tennessee Family Had the Surprise of Their Life

By: Lauren Wurth | Last updated: Mar 21, 2024

For every homeowner, besides a mortgage, their home comes with a set of maintenance responsibilities. For example, if little things break or need to be replaced, it’s up to the homeowner to fix them. Otherwise, that responsibility falls into the hands of a handyman or handywoman. Overall, everyone wants their home to look good because your home is an investment in yourself and your family.

Thus, you should take care of it. If you took a brick out of your home’s wall and was expecting a mouse, for instance, you might get a surprise. Read on to learn more about a man who pulled a brick out of a wall and got quite the surprise.

This Is How It Looked Before

It was late September in Tennessee. A family of three, who had a cute, friendly dog, decided to call the local pest control company when they started hearing strange noises coming from their walls.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

The scratching noise resembled something moving inside of their kitchen wall. It could have been an animal stuck and in need of help escaping. No one would have guessed what type of animal would end up causing such a disruption, but these things happen from time to time, don’t they?

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Is It Possible the Problem Is Mice?

Little critters, ranging from rats to squirrels, frequently make their homes within the walls of the houses they are most familiar with. As summer dies down at the end of August and September rolls around, creatures start making winter nests for themselves. It is common-place behavior that, unfortunately, may lead to your home becoming infested with unwanted pests.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

The sounds had been going on for some time. By now, it was the middle of September, and the weather had yet to turn chilly. But instead of going away, the sounds were intensifying and becoming more disruptive.

Possibly Insects?

The strange and unnerving sound that was coming from their kitchen wasn’t going away. The family had no idea how to get rid of whatever was making the noise. Luckily, they were able to go online and find out the cause of the noise: weird bugs living inside their walls!

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

Using repurposed household items such as spray bottles and water, the family made a DIY bug bomb to eliminate what was lurking within their walls. Or at least they hoped.

It's Time to Call in Reinforcements

After creating their homemade pesticide, the sound of scratching still didn’t go away. Every time they stood by the wall, they could hear it loud and clear. The DIY bug bombs weren’t working, so the family realized they were going to need backup.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

When they found out about pest expert David Glover, everything suddenly seemed much clearer. He had a proven track record of solving problems that were just like this one. It was evident that with him on their side, things would go much smoother.

David has Good Sense

David was an experienced professional. He knew he could handle whatever came his way. After all, the situation was within the walls of the house. So, it couldn’t possibly be that dangerous.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

But when he got to work with his fancy exterminating gadgets, he was surprised by what he saw next. It wasn’t just any insect infestation. He had never seen anything like this before in his life.

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Getting In There

David was inspecting the outer wall of the kitchen, looking for an insect’s entryway. It was a brick wall that looked solid, but he knew there had to be a tiny opening somewhere so small you could barely notice it. He had trouble locating one until he finally spotted it—the weep hole.

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Source: The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

It’s the black line in the middle of the picture at the bottom that you can make out. There was another tiny crack between the kitchen window and the wall, which David also took advantage of.

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Tools with Focus and Purpose

David is always well-equipped to do his work well. He’s fond of infrared cameras, like the ones in the movie Predator, which let you see heat. Infrared cameras are helpful for a variety of tasks, and it might help discover what was going on within the walls.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

David likes the infrared cameras, since they allow him to see what’s hidden behind barriers. What David found on the other side of the wall floored him! What you’re looking at here had to be enormous.

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Put 'Em Out with the Smoke

The following tool David used was the more traditional option. Before removing the pests from inside that wall with his fancy infrared camera, he decided to use smoke as an old-school method of repelling any potential stinging insects before taking out the wall.

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Photo by Pierre WITT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Even though he had planned on using smoke, he decided to take one extra precaution. He applied some natural insect repellents, just in case any hidden stinging insects might be hiding behind that inner wall plaster.

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Next Steps

The smoke had likely startled the insects for a brief time. So, David set to work on enlarging the brick hole so he could see more of what was going on within the wall.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

He eventually started to understand exactly what he was getting into as soon as he started removing bricks off the wall. David had a hunch this was the problem all along. He arrived at the correct conclusion because of his extensive knowledge and skill.

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What Could BEE or Not BEE the Problem

Bees were the source of all the activity inside the wall structure. To be more specific, a whole swarm of honeybees. This hive could seem to be small to the untrained eye. On the other hand, David was fully aware of the massive quantity of honey and bees that were concealed under those bricks, owing to the size of the comb.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

It was time for David to get ready for his biggest pest eradication job yet, and he did just that.

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Then There Were More!

David popped off one brick. Then, two. Three. Four. The beehive got bigger and bigger, though he wasn’t sure if it was because he was getting closer to a complete hive or if there were still a lot of bricks left to pry from the wall. Each layer David uncovered revealed more honeycombs.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

In the back of his mind, David was counting the bricks he’d have to break through until he finally saw the whole hive. Would there even be a wall remaining after everything was said and done?

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It Just Kept Going and Going and Going and Going

David carefully removed pieces from the wall, brick by brick, and slowly removed five rows. At this point, he could see how immense the hive was, as the entire outer shell was now visible, and he could see thousands of bees flying freely in and out of it.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

As much as he was relieved to see the edge of the beehive, this was a task that would monopolize his total concentration, as he still had a long way to go. The hive looked like it spanned several bricks wide and several bricks deep. Now, all that remained for David was to figure out how he could stop them from invading this house again.

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Talk About Some Busy Bees

Suppose the enormous honeycomb that David just found, which overshadowed the kitchen window, is any indication. In that case, these bees have been working non-stop for some time to produce that deep, amber-colored liquid that would be heavenly on a slice of toast.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

Unbeknownst to them, this family had been hosting a large number of unofficial renters at their house. Those bees needed to go, and soon.

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Long Live the Queen, All 13 of 'Em!

David looked closer at the hissing and buzzing hive. He noticed that there were 13 queen cells, each with a virgin queen bee inside. It was clear that the entire beehive was brimming with a zealous activity of its own accord.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

This hive’s size might have quadrupled if left unattended for a few more weeks. These bees had finally found a nice place to call home, and they were eager to expand their hive.

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Things Needed to Be Handled Responsibly

David was regretful when he realized that the bees were causing a lot of damage, but he didn’t want to exterminate them. He knew that around the world, there were problems with bee populations dying at alarming rates. Some scientists even say that the fault lies with us humans because of our overzealous pesticides.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

These bees were still vital, though, and David had a plan to save them. By relocating the bees into a more suitable home, they would thrive just fine.

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These Insects Must've Been Trippin'

After removing several swaths of honeycomb from the hive, David discovered a large comb section built in extraordinary fashion. As he described it later, “The construction crew in this part of the hive must have been on some type of acid when they were building this.” It was almost as if there were crisscrossing curves and tunnels every which way, with no rhyme or reason.

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These bees were unlike any other bees he’d ever seen. Researchers could learn more about these bees by studying the curves and tunnels they built. It’s puzzling why those bees were flourishing when most bees are becoming extinct.

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Such Nice Bees

It’s not every day that you see a man getting into the hive of a swarm of bees. They have a reputation for being vicious and having an excruciating sting, but these bees stood out from the rest. It was strange to see them so cooperative as David carefully took apart their home, until he got the queens out.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

The bees themselves were particularly curious as they buzzed past him and around his head. Some decided to settle on David’s shoulder as he removed what was left of their stronghold in that place. Their stings were no longer a threat to him, since they didn’t have their queen here protecting them anymore.

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Getting Rid of the Mess

Once David had finished removing the bees from behind the wall, he went about cleaning up his work area. It was quite a messy job, ripping out a brick wall to remove thousands of honeybees created quite an enormous mess!

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

A gaping hole was in the house’s side that now had to be fixed, but at least he had removed all the bees safely. It really would have been awful if any of them had remained where they were. The family had had enough and could finally have some peace of mind.

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No Squatter's Rights

David decided to keep a box in the hole left in the home’s wall during his cleaning because he wasn’t sure there wouldn’t be any bees coming back. Most of the pollen collectors had been distracted or scared away by the noise of the hive removal, but the absence of some of them may have only been temporary.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

The bees could be lured back to the box by David, who could then transport them to the new hive-site.

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An Impression That Will Last

The bees had left an indelible mark on the interior of this wall after David completed cleaning. Thousands of tiny bee tracks had been left behind. David made a joke about how many times his mother had instructed him to clean his feet before entering his childhood home. He thought the “footprints” were kind of cool.

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The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

This family would never forget the bees now that they had something to remember them by. The imprint they left via a giant hole in the brick wall exterior will not be soon forgotten.

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New Home, Sweet Home

David carefully removed the hive box to find any remaining bees inside had already left. Now he just needed to give these bees a new home—somewhere safe to continue their industrious work.

The Bartlett Bee Whisperer / Facebook

He promptly packed them up and delivered them to honey farms nearby, so that other bee colonies would be able to take advantage of these extra hands—both in pollinating new flowers and producing honey.

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The Circle of Life: We Bee-Long Together

You might know that bees get a bad rep, but it’s important to remember they are an essential part of our planet’s ecosystem. They make sure flowers and plants grow correctly and help the global community by pollinating trees, crops, and vegetables. Although bees can be intimidating with their barbed stingers, they won’t attack unless provoked.

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Photo by Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/picture alliance via Getty Images

It’s best not to harm or kill any bees that find their way inside your house. Instead, encourage them to go gently. Or you can hire a professional dynamo, like David, if you find they’re constructing a colony inside your walls.

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A Pest By Any Other Name

When you realize just how many critters can sneak into your home, it might help you remember that even bees aren’t the worst things. Take one family in Thailand who wished their stress was caused by a bee problem because, by comparison, they had a much more serious issue to deal with.

Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Find out which reptile gave them the scare of their lives by reading on. You probably don’t want one of these in your home.

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A Cunning Snake

Even though snakes are smaller than humans, we do much more damage to them than snakes do to us. Snakes, on the other hand, have received a bad reputation. It’s conceivable that the whole story of Adam and Eve may be to blame for this.

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Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Despite their intimidating looks, snakes are not very dangerous unless you happen to stumble across one in the wilderness. Although not always poisonous, you should not handle snakes unless you are a trained expert.

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Here's a Story About a Guy Named Vern Lovic

Vern Lovic has the fearlessness of an adventurer. He’s an expert at handling slippery snakes, including small, harmless kinds and significantly larger, venomous types. If you’re thinking of taking on a snake problem yourself, think again!

Thailand Living / YouTube

Instead of trying to handle your serpent situation on your own, you should give this daring, highly experienced man a call. Vern Lovic is not only passionate about his work, he also has a knowledge and skills storehouse that has equipped him with all sorts of tricks for moving snakes out of places where they aren’t wanted.

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Houston, We Have a Problem

Vern has always been fascinated with snakes. He can remember back to when he was just a young boy visiting the zoo with his dad. The one reptile that caught his eye was the anaconda, which made Vern want to know everything possible about these unique creatures.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

So, after years of experiencing first-hand the kinds of situations an individual might find themselves in if they were to work with dangerous animals, including poisonous snakes like cobras, Vern’s fascination no longer remained solely at arm’s length. Upon his arrival at his friend’s house, he discovered a situation that was much worse than he had expected. He immediately launched himself into action.

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Tools of Focus with a Purpose

Vern’s tools didn’t seem like they were worth much when compared to David’s. Unlike the infrared camera and smoke gun, Vern was armed with nothing more than a clear plastic bag reinforced with metal that was used specifically for transporting snakes—to keep them contained without the fear of them biting or escaping.

Thailand Living / YouTube

But even so, when he initially entered the home, he had no clue what to expect. Awaiting him at his friend’s house was a situation that would extend beyond his wildest, adventurous dreams.

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When You're Looking for a Snake, You Gotta Know Where to Look

Vern searched every corner of the house in a way that would make a herpetologist jealous! He looked in places where snakes often like to take refuge, like the underside of kitchen appliances, drawers, vents, and crevices around molding. Vern wasn’t afraid to go out on the edge of uncertainty with his “snake-finder” senses.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

Fortunately, he was well-versed in dealing with infestations, and he knew precisely where to begin his search. Vern finally found his way inside his friend’s restroom after a lengthy search of the entrance.

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Vern Had to Go to the John

It was in the bathroom that Vern started his investigation. Snakes are known to lurk in toilet bowls, and he understood it was never a good idea to sit on a toilet with a snake in it. When he opened the bathroom door, he saw one creeping up the back corner wall.

Thailand Living / YouTube

Even if it would have been simpler if the snake was in the toilet, it’s a good thing it wasn’t in there.

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Just So Many of 'Em!

Seeing the young cobra crawling up the wall was problematic for a few reasons. First and foremost, one young cobra equates to many baby cobras. Second, it was a monocled infant cobra, the most poisonous and dangerous snake in Thailand.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

With only one bite, you may die a quick but agonizing death. Vern managed to capture the single snake and gently transported it out of the restroom. He then began to understand this was only the beginning of the actual work he would have to put in.

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A Bag of Snakes, Part One

Thailand is one of the most beautiful places in Asia. Unfortunately, it is also home to a wide variety of venomous snake species. While there are only a dozen deaths annually from snake bites in Thailand, people should still take precautions around these creatures because identifying the difference between potentially lethal and harmless species is often challenging without prior experience.

Thailand Living / YouTube

Vern could capture a few more cobras in his bag, but he still had a long way to go before being done with his quest for these poisonous creatures. If you’re afraid of snakes, the following photos might just give you nightmares. So, proceed at your own risk.

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You're Kidding! How Many?!

At the end of his restroom roundup, Vern discovered almost a dozen snakes. This was just the number of reptiles in the bathroom. He hadn’t even gone through the rest of his friend’s home yet! As soon as he was confident there were no more snakes in the bathroom, he continued to the next living space.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

He was hoping that he’d have enough room in his transparent plastic bag to fit every snake he found in the house.

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The Seemingly Never-Ending Quest

Vern carefully nudged open the door to the next room, ensuring not to get too close and startle any nearby snakes. He proceeded with caution. If he was spotted, he risked upsetting them and possibly angering them into biting him. He made his way past furniture and other items, searching for potential hiding spots for any nearby cobras. Vern knew these snakes were excellent at finding and using hiding places that people might not expect.

Thailand Living / YouTube

There was no doubt they could be almost anywhere. Vern simply had done this too many times to let himself be spooked by a bizarre snake infestation. He planned to keep his cool, even if he did find what he was looking for.

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They're in Trash, Glass Bottles, Tin Cans, Oh My!

Vern knew he had to be on the lookout for even more snakes. There was no telling where they might slither from next. He knelt and peeked inside several glass bottles that were scattered around the floor. Sure enough, Vern found several baby cobras hiding behind the glass bottles on the floor. Then, Vern turned his head towards some empty tin cans lying in a heap of trash near his feet. There were more he noticed hiding inside the cans.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

These cobras seemed to be growing in number. Vern didn’t know how much longer this expedition would last in the end, but he was prepared for anything. As time passed, more snakes appeared out of nowhere.

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An Extremely Careful Exploration

Vern began at the far end of the room and worked his way backward, since there was plenty of space. He had no idea what he would come across with each new step he took on his journey. Almost every snake he saw was a surprise, but he had to exercise extreme care while in the presence of any of them.

Thailand Living / YouTube

Vern had no idea what he would encounter next, but that’s what kept him taking cautious steps to avoid fatal bites with one mistake.

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Extensively Is the Way to Do It

Vern found many more young cobras in the room’s rear. He was incredibly thorough with his search and removed any that were still hiding out in tight spaces. When they weren’t coiled around pipes, they were skulking about in trash cans.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

Vern went above and beyond when it came to doing his investigation. He wasn’t going to leave that house until he was sure that no more baby cobras were hiding in a place where they could cause his friend danger.

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There, There, Good Little Bed Snakes, Don't Bite!

One of the only things left to do was check his friend’s bedroom. After all, while his friend slept in this room many hours per night, Vern couldn’t let the cobras get the chance to bite him. Unaware and unprotected, it would mean certain death for his pal while he was sleeping.

Thailand Living / YouTube

The situation seemed normal as he flung the door wide open and got closer to his friend’s bed. However, he soon discovered that things weren’t as they first appeared.

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What a Close Call

As soon as Vern pulled back the bedspread, he felt a chill go down his spine. There were a few snakes just hanging out under the covers. Cue creepy music, because this sight was the stuff that nightmares are made of.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

The snakes tried to escape from Vern and the light in the room, previously obscured, by making their way back under the duvet cover. Vern urged his friend to stay at a hotel until the bed snakes could be evacuated from the room. Neither sleeping with fishes or sleeping with cobras is something anyone should try to do.

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Still Searching and Still Finding

As Vern left the bedroom, he spotted one more baby monocled cobra trying to slither underneath the bottom jamb of the door. Thankfully, it had its tail visible. So, Vern could quickly collect it in his bag with the rest of its brothers and sisters. Apparently, these snakes didn’t know who they were dealing with.

Thailand Living / YouTube

Fortunately enough for Vern, they were young snakes. So, he had a simpler job handling them. All he needed to do was grasp the snake by the tongs and put it into his hefty, reinforced plastic bag.

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What a Whopping Sack of Snakes!

Vern inwardly shrieked with awe as he turned around and realized what was happening for the second time today. There was another pile of terrors outside the bathroom door. The number of snakes in this house was indeed one of the worst infestations Vern had ever encountered.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

By now, Vern had collected nearly twenty snakes in his transparent satchel, but it seemed like there were far too many left to tackle. He started to wonder how on earth all those snakes got into the house in the first place.

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When We Get to the Living Room…

As Vern continued to safely store the cobras in his bag, he pressed on with his task. The living room was littered with shelves against one wall, and there were plenty of dark spots for any hidden snakes to slip into.

Thailand Living / YouTube

Vern would need to be extra careful in this area, knowing that any thoughtless movement could result in a bite from one of the highly venomous reptiles. He had plans that evening for dinner, but dying wasn’t on the menu. He was expecting to collect another 20 snakes, at least.

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These Boots Were Made for Walking, Not Habitation

Vern knew that snakes liked to stay in dark and claustrophobic places. So, the instant he spotted a pair of tall black boots in his friend’s bachelor pad, he was confident that an exotic reptile would be slithering out at any moment. He kicked the boots over, and there turned out to be not only one baby cobra, but several of them came out of the footwear.

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Thailand Living / YouTube

By this time, it was becoming clear to Vern that he may have needed a more oversized bag. He couldn’t handle the sheer quantity of snakes that were around the house.

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Time to Tally the Total

What would you do if your house had over 50 snakes in it? It’s not very likely that anyone reading this has enough cobras living in their home to equal the astonishing total count of 56 monocled cobras, like Vern found during his Thailand residential exploration. He ended up being featured in a video uploaded to the Thailand Living YouTube channel, if you want to watch the snake hunt in its entirety.

Arterra/UIG via Getty Images

If you don’t live in Thailand, consider yourself lucky. While snakes may be found in some areas of America, they aren’t as much of a huge issue here.

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