Apparently Pet Snakes Might Not be “Pets”…. More Weird Tales From A Real Estate Investor
Awhile back I wrote about an investor friend of mine who was having problems at one of his properties. Well, the fun continues…
The same unit (we’ll call it unit 13) where the shooting took place finally was rented to a nice couple with three small children. One evening the mother was preparing the dinner and needed a large pot to make beans. She reached up into the cabinet to pull down a large stew pot, only to find that it seamed unusually heavy. When she got it down to eye level, the head of a large 2 1/2 foot snake popped out. As one might imagine, she dropped the pot and screamed like no one has ever heard before. The husband came rushing in to find his wife on a dining room chair and the pot and the snake on the kitchen floor. I think instinct took over and the husband killed the snake with a kitchen knife (see photo below).
Apparently, the tenant in the unit next door had a pet snake that went missing a few weeks earlier. He didn’t think it prudent to tell anyone about his stray snake. After all, how do you tell your neighbors that you own a 2 1/2 foot snake and that its gone missing? Do you put up flyers? Do you put an ad in the local paper. Do you call the FBI? What do you do?
The tenant also didn’t think it important to tell the property manager because the snake wasn’t “legally” a pet as defined in the rental agreement. The tenant was under the belief that snakes were not considered pets because only dogs and cats were specifically prohibited in the contract. According to the property manager, the contract states that “Tenants were not allowed to have any typical household pets like dogs and cats without prior written approval of the management,” which he didn’t have. I guess the tenant was correct, He didn’t own a dog or a cat….just a 2 1/1 foot snake that broke free and terrorized the family next door. True story!
Has anyone seen my head?
