Why did it have to be snakes?
This California schoolteacher's house would scare Indiana Jones--police searched the five-bedroom home on Wednesday to find 400 pythons, Gawker reported via The Associated Press.
William Buchman, 53, has been arrested for investigation of neglect in the care of animals, the AP said.
All but two of the snakes were dead and decaying, and the house also contained dozens of mice and rats, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Neighbors in the Santa Ana suburb had been complaining to authorities for several months about the smell. Some were concerned that the house held a body.
"We thought someone was dead," Forest Long Sr., 62, who lives next door, told the L.A. Times. "We couldn't open up the bedroom windows. My wife started to gag and throw up."
Buchman, who is a teacher at Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach, had become increasingly reclusive, Long said.
"We didn't see him much," the neighbor told the L.A. Times. "Maybe he became lonely."
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said the stench was apparent as much as 300 feet from the house.
"The smell alone--I feel like I need to take a shower for a week," Bertagna told the AP. "They're pretty much in all the bedrooms--everywhere."
Animal control officials had tried to get into the house earlier and contacted police after Buchman wouldn't let them in.
The teacher was known throughout the neighborhood for the frequent deliveries of mice and rats to his home.
"We called him the rat man," Long told the L.A. Times, adding that he and his wife were relieved that no bodies were found in the house.
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