Of all the pests that can plague one's home, snakes, with their silent, slithering presence, might be the worst. One Georgia family is learning this lesson the hard way, ever since realizing that several snakes had made their home in the ceiling of their rental house.
According to WTVC Chattanooga, Hary Pugliese, his wife Susan, and their teenage daughter moved into the LaFayette, Georgia, house in January. The ceiling serpents, which were discovered Monday, have only served to fuel the long-standing tensions between the Puglieses and their landlord, John Stafford.
As far back as February, Pugliese said he asked his landlord to fix various maintenance issues, including a leaky roof, to which Stafford allegedly replied that he didn't have the funds to complete the repairs. After Stafford finally had the roof fixed about two months ago, Pugliese said it was merely a band-aid solution. Since then, he says he has called Stafford "20, 30, 40 times" to tell him the leaking has persisted.
Additionally, when the family moved into the house in January, they say there was already a rat problem—a claim that Stafford denies. Pugliese, however, said that they were told to fix with the vermin issue themselves by putting out traps and poison.
Now, Stafford says he is evicting the family because they haven't paid rent for the past two months, but Pugliese explained that they were refusing to pay until adequate maintenance repairs were completed. Regardless, the family is planning to move out of the unit because the snakes' presence is interfering with their daily lives.
"I'm dreaming that a snake is going to fall on me. I can't sleep. I couldn't sleep last night, because of the snakes," Pugliese told WTVC.
A photo sent to WTVC by Pugliese shows approximately three snakes dangling from a giant hole in the ceiling, while another offers a close-up of a snake peeking out.
SNAKES IN THE ROOF! A LaFayette man says there are snakes in his rental home. Harry Pugliese says problems have persisted at this house on East Villanow Street since February, but the landlord won't fix them. pic.twitter.com/ukVUOStzUm
— Bliss ZechmanNC9 (@BlissZechman) May 25, 2021
"He acts like he doesn't care," Susan Pugliese said of their landlord. "He said, 'Well, if there are snakes in the ceiling, they'll be taking care of the rats.'"
WTVC contacted Stafford, who called the conflict a "a difficult situation."
When asked if he knew that the house had rats, he reportedly said: "No, I've never heard that, but there are rats everywhere, so I'm sure there are rats there."
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In addition to snakes, rats and roaches, the house rented by the Pugliese family suffers from a bee infestation—and when the news outlet asked about that issue, Stafford allegedly said: "I would hate to disturb the bees, because it's getting hard to even raise bees. Bees are becoming extinct and that is a strong hive."
He also reportedly said that he "[doesn't] think there's another option" than for people to cohabitate with vermin and pests.
According to WTVC, the city of LaFayette is not able to intervene in the conflict—the Pugliese family and Stafford will have to resolve the issue on their own.
