APRIL 2 UPDATE: A Henderson woman says her rat infestation multiplied due to neighbor's chicken coop.
Shannon Porter walked outside into her backyard last Thursday evening to rats running all over giant tree.
"I'm living in a literal horror movie," said Porter.
She whipped out her iPhone to record the rats running all over the branches. There are five visible giant rats in the cell phone video. Porter says after she stopped recording, she and her neighbors counted 25 more. Her pest control company came over immediately.
"I can't do this," she said. "I can't live like this. This is unacceptable. This is beyond anything I've ever experienced in my life."
A spokesperson with the city of Henderson tells 13 Action News, the people who own the property next door were asked to remove the chickens a couple weeks back. They complied. But according to the city, the food was left on the property which may have caused all the rats to come out and onto Porter's tree. The spokesperson with the city says they were asked to also remove the food and the debris which should hopefully help eliminate the infestation.
ORIGINAL STORY: A Henderson woman is living in fear because she says rats have taken over a part of her home.
Shannon Porter says her neighbor installed a chicken coop about a year and a half ago. Since then, she started seeing rats on her property. The first rat was just feet from her front door.
"They're big and they're very fat and they're very happy," she said.
Porter hasn't even been able to sleep in her home the past few months. She's been sleeping in hotels and at her friends house.
"I can't enjoy my house," she said. "I can't stay in my house. The emotional distress is one thing. The time coming off of work to get here to meet pest control people... I've had two teams working on it."
Porter's pest control companies determined the root of the problem is from the next-door neighbor's chicken coop.
Porter says they have all the food they want over there.
Porter tried contacting the property owners herself but to no avail. She says they don't live on the property, they just own it.
She has contacted the city of Henderson multiple times to try and see if there's anything they can do.
13 Action News learned the city of Henderson has an open investigation going on related to the property after multiple complaints were filed. They were unable to give more information because the case is open but they are trying to determine if city code is being violated.
