Tyler and Lauren Bouldin were excited when they bought their home in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, six years ago. The dwelling dated back to the 1830s, per People, and it needed plenty of work to be inhabitable. Nevertheless, the couple was primed for the task. However, there was one unanticipated feature of the property that left them almost speechless. The grounds had become a roost for reptiles. Snakes were populating the place. For Tyler Bouldin, that was unacceptable. He shared with the outlet, "I'm naturally terrified of snakes. So it was genuinely unsettling for the first year or so while I got used to life out in the woods."
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The House Needed Lots of Work
The house and grounds had a lot of appeal. Despite the building's significant deterioration over the years, there were lovely elements like "centuries-old trees, a beautiful creek, and the surrounding protected forest...." When the Bouldins purchased the house at auction, though, they probably knew they would have to do loads of fixing-up.
As Bouldin explained, "The house had been abandoned for years, and the condition showed it. The main level had no floors, the grand staircase was falling down and the kitchen was gone entirely."
Wild Creatures Had Overrun the Place
The Bouldins had "tenants" seemingly everywhere. Per People, they included frogs, mice, and rabbits. But there were creepy critters as well. Bouldin observed, "This made an excellent hunting ground for black snakes, water snakes and copperheads, and we saw our first black snake climbing up the side of one of our massive sycamore trees — hunting for wood duck eggs — the day we took ownership of the property."
Eeek!
The Bouldins Made Safety a Key Priority
While renovations were underway, Lauren Bouldin was pregnant. The couple also had a toddler and a dog. So they were very cautious about staying far from the animals nearby. Bouldin said, "We were extremely careful any time we went outside, and kept a close eye on him and our dog to make sure that they weren't wandering into the more overgrown parts of the property."
At first, the family made an effort to tolerate the snakes. According to the outlet, "For a while, they embraced a live-and-let-live approach, even as sightings became increasingly common around the property."
In fact, in a TikTok video posted three years ago. Tyler Bouldin remarked that solution became untenable. "Every time we post a snake video, people say, 'Oh, don't worry about the black snakes. Don't do anything with them.' And that's been our policy. Black snakes are here to stay. But the thing is, the black snakes are getting kind of big. Like, one of these is about seven feet long."
Black Snakes Weren't Keeping the Copperheads at Bay
The profusion of snakes stirred Tyler Bouldin to action. "We spent whatever free time we had clearing the lawn, stone walls, gardens and woodland of debris, garbage piles, and overgrowth. We removed our dangerous in-ground pool, restored the pond and installed filters and fountains, and closed up all of the holes in the house and barn, which created homes for mice, etc."
In addition to taking away many of the snakes' favorite haunts, Bouldin also bravely scooped some of them up and deposited them further from their home.
The Labor and Strategizing Were Ultimately Worth It
Tyler Bouldin reports that his efforts were largely a success. Per the outlet, he declared, "I'm glad to say that every summer we see less and less snakes, and that our efforts seem to have had the impact that we hoped they would."
