When Søfteland was at work outside Landro’s church in Øygarden at the beginning of June, he had a special vision. In a parking lot he met a cat and a viper.
– The viper tried to bite the cat, but the cat was very relaxed. When I started filming, it turned its attention to me.
When Søfteland returned to the scene not long afterwards, he saw the cat again.
– I thought that the cat was happy and that the viper had gone to the forest, but then I spotted the remains of its body, without head and tail.
It was a special sight that met Sjur Søfteland when he was at Jobb in Øygarden at the beginning of June.
Photo: Sjur Søfteland
You are safer with a cat than without
Dag Dolmen is a herpetologist at NTNU, and researches vipers. He says that one should not ignore the fact that it was the cat that broke the viper.
That the cat won the battle against the viper does not surprise him.
– The cat is very fast in its movements. The viper tries to attack, but the cat is so fast that the viper misses.
Dolmen says that he has heard of several confrontations between a cat and a viper, and the viper has never won.
Dag Dolmen, who researches vipers, says that the cat is an incredibly good viper hunter.
Photo: Private
– You are safer from vipers with a cat than without, says the researcher.
If you have a dog, however, the viper can be dangerous.
– The dog is forward with its muzzle and gets bitten easily, but the cat is incredibly good as a viper hunter.
Can harm cats and humans
– I hoped the cat hadn’t been bitten, says Søfteland.
Two weeks after the incident, he was on another mission in the same place, when he received confirmation that the cat was doing well.
– I met the same cat again, so at least it hadn’t hurt itself.
Should the cat, despite the odds, be bitten by a viper, the odds are slim, says Dolmen.
The viper did not win against the cat this time, but the odds were never on its side.
Photo: Sjur Søfteland
– Dogs can become seriously ill, so I would like to think that cats can too. Get it to the vet and it will probably be fine.
People can also get sick if they are bitten by vipers.
– The bite site often swells, and some people have allergic attacks. It is not always that it injects poison, but the recommendation is to see a doctor anyway, says Dolmen.
Don’t be afraid
Having a phobia of snakes is common, according to Helse-Norge, but Søfteland was not afraid when he saw the viper.
– I have a relaxed relationship with vipers, I have encountered them so many times. You almost have to step on them for them to bite you.
Neither the cat nor the photographer was afraid of the viper.
Photo: Sjur Søfteland
For those who are not as relaxed when it comes to vipers, Dolmen can tell you that there is not a high probability of encountering them in the summer.
From Easter time until the summer, it is quite common to encounter vipers, but in the summer it is so hot that the vipers crawl into hiding.
If you want to be as safe as possible, you have to be in northern Norway, but even there they can snake their way across the Swedish border or the Finnish border.
– In Sweden and Finland, the vipers go up to the Norwegian border in Sør Varanger.
2023-07-23 16:56:54
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