Bill
05-08-2015, 8:46pm
Northeast Houston family fed up with snakes
A Houston family has a slithering problem and they want it gone
KTRK
By Tracy Clemons
Updated 1 hr 16 mins ago
HOUSTON (KTRK) --
A northeast Houston family says snakes from an overgrown lot next to their home keep making their way into their yard. They want their neighbors to do something about it.
At its highest, the grass is waist-high. The family next door tells us this lot hasn't been cut since last fall.
A sign says their irresponsible neighbor this lot is Harris County. That's where it gets complicated.
"He was long and he was black," Donald Lewis says of the snake he saw in his yard Thursday morning. "I got down on the steps. I didn't make it over here until the snake was headed away."
Donald Lewis and his wife, JoAnn, tell Eyewitness News every year about this time, water moccasins come from the lot next to their home and invade their yard.
"One was by the car yesterday. My husband came out this morning, it was another one in the yard," JoAnn says.
Last year, she tells us, a few got in the house.
"Year before it was a big one up under my sofa," she said. "My son shot and killed him."
They've cut the grass closest their home, and put lime down around their fence to keep the snakes away. She believes it's a risk to their health.
"I have congestive heart failure. He has congestive heart failure. We have a special child. He don't know. He come out here, he don't know...something crawls up on him and bites him," said JoAnn.
Donald says he's reported it to 311 several times. We called the city of Houston for answers.
Reps for the city first told us they would cut the grass after notifying the property owner.
Upon further investigation, they called back to say it's Harris County property. So we called the county.
After several hours they told us it was mis-identified as theirs and is private property after all.
We checked the HCAD number provided for the property by the county, and those property records point right back to the county as the land owner.
Northeast Houston family fed up with snakes | abc13.com (http://abc13.com/news/northeast-houston-family-fed-up-with-snakes/707873/)
A Houston family has a slithering problem and they want it gone
KTRK
By Tracy Clemons
Updated 1 hr 16 mins ago
HOUSTON (KTRK) --
A northeast Houston family says snakes from an overgrown lot next to their home keep making their way into their yard. They want their neighbors to do something about it.
At its highest, the grass is waist-high. The family next door tells us this lot hasn't been cut since last fall.
A sign says their irresponsible neighbor this lot is Harris County. That's where it gets complicated.
"He was long and he was black," Donald Lewis says of the snake he saw in his yard Thursday morning. "I got down on the steps. I didn't make it over here until the snake was headed away."
Donald Lewis and his wife, JoAnn, tell Eyewitness News every year about this time, water moccasins come from the lot next to their home and invade their yard.
"One was by the car yesterday. My husband came out this morning, it was another one in the yard," JoAnn says.
Last year, she tells us, a few got in the house.
"Year before it was a big one up under my sofa," she said. "My son shot and killed him."
They've cut the grass closest their home, and put lime down around their fence to keep the snakes away. She believes it's a risk to their health.
"I have congestive heart failure. He has congestive heart failure. We have a special child. He don't know. He come out here, he don't know...something crawls up on him and bites him," said JoAnn.
Donald says he's reported it to 311 several times. We called the city of Houston for answers.
Reps for the city first told us they would cut the grass after notifying the property owner.
Upon further investigation, they called back to say it's Harris County property. So we called the county.
After several hours they told us it was mis-identified as theirs and is private property after all.
We checked the HCAD number provided for the property by the county, and those property records point right back to the county as the land owner.
Northeast Houston family fed up with snakes | abc13.com (http://abc13.com/news/northeast-houston-family-fed-up-with-snakes/707873/)