A family in central Montana faced their worst nightmare this spring. Their home in the scenic rural part of the state had become a horrific snake den.
Content creator Callie Phillips, 27, posted a TikTok video showing her home had a full-fledged snake infestation. The clip went viral with 1.3 million views.
Callie Phillips, who shares her experience online as callieoverseas, told People the first snake was discovered around 2020. Her mother-in-law was staying at the house at the time. She explained her husband works as a ranch hand, and the house is part of his employment package.
“It came from the entryway in our house. We had that one in 2020, and then in the fall of 2020, we had another one, and it was my mom who found it,” she added.
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Phillips later admitted that she personally did not notice a snake until December 2020. At the time, her daughter was about six months old.
“I was going to go get my daughter out of her pack and play,” she explained. “I turned around, and it was really small, but it was right on the floor in the living room, which totally caught me off guard with it being December,” she revealed.
Usually, eastern, southern, and central Montana are prone to snakes due to open, rocky landscapes. Even so, Callie Phillips said what was happening inside was far from normal.
Thankfully, the snakes have not reached the bedrooms. Keeping them out of that space is a top priority for the family. They have even tried old methods like sticky traps to catch them.
The Montana native explained their farmhouse sits on a cinder block foundation. It has an entryway that leads down to the basement. The house is 3 miles from a water source. That distance encourages snake breeding and keeps the reptiles mostly away from the land.
“The foundation for the house is cinder block, so we have an entryway that goes down into our basement and everything, and that’s lined with the cinder blocks of the foundation,” Phillips said.
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The concerned mother told the outlet that their front door was permanently shut and sealed. This happened after repeated sightings. Yet there was no end to the problem.
The family can reportedly stand near the basement entryway. From there, they watch snakes drop out of the foundation. Some days, they see five, six, or more. “At 1.3, we saw eight this spring dropping outside,” Phillips added.
Phillips admitted the reptiles are garter snakes, known as harmless. Even so, she remains terrified of them. She pointed out that people tell her the snakes are not venomous.
They also feed on bugs. They say she has nothing to fear. Yet, she dismissed the advice: “There’s still my irrational fear,” she said. “I would never touch them. I don’t want them in my house.”
The content creator began documenting the ordeal online. She also launched a fundraising goal of $75,000 through social media. The money would help her family eventually move out of the Montana home.
She said people are hooked and engrossed in her videos about her not-so-amazing visitors. Many online users often tell her to “burn it down, and move out.
“We get a lot of people who say, ‘Why don’t you just move?’ or ‘How do you sleep at night?’” she shared. “People are usually horrified. Many overlook that it’s the reality of rural living.”
According to Newsweek, Callie’s clip went viral on social media. Several users had a mixed reaction to the strange and scary sight. “I’d buy a double wide and let the snakes have the house,” one user wrote.
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Despite the scary situation, Callie said they found a contractor to help with renovations. Conditions have already improved. Since work began, she has seen only two snakes inside the living space. Several have still been spotted in the entryway and kitchen.
Callie Phillips is now focusing on the positive side of the ordeal, especially the fact that the old farmhouse is finally receiving long-overdue upgrades.
Still, she admitted the worst part is losing the feeling of safety inside her own home. “You’re really just on edge,” she said. “I didn’t even want to go in the kitchen to make lunch during the day. It was just so unnerving.”
