May 28,2012 A Rare Fight By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.

Maasin City, Southern Leyte-A rare fight has occurred between a cat and a snake one afternoon at past 2 in sitio Tinago, Hinundayan of this province. One summer afternoon in sitio Tinago, Hinundayan of the province of Southern Ley te at past 2, our small cat in white with slight spots of brown unexpectedly met a small snake near a swamp planted with nipa trees. It s more or less 15 meters awa y from our kitchen. As the two opposite creatures faced each other, a fierce fight ensued. The green -colored small snake, but matured enough to square off any predator or enemy, lu nged its head to bite the small cat. But our fearless cat parried it with its cl aws by rapid evasions. The cat s snarl coupled with the grinning of its teeth seemed to help as he furiousl y retaliated. He thrust its clawed paws to clamp the snake s head. However, the flexible and supple snake smartly docked away to avoid an injury. I t lunged its head again to land a bite but missed its target. It thrust again in a series of succession to overwhelm the enemy and the cat was bitten. At this p oint, I was tempted to hit the snake, but quickly changed my decision and decide d to allow our cat to continue fighting. Getting angry this time, he relentlessly attacked with the canny maneuvering of its sharp claws; makes pause for seconds, then assailed incessantly until the sn ake got caught by its claws and bit its head. He dragged the snake by the mouth and brought it to the kitchen. He chewed the s nake s head and ate part of it and left it. I picked it up and threw it in a whirlin g fashion towards the swamp planted with nipa trees. The following day the I do not know exactly .I started my journey laces for less than 4 cat looked weak. Although he ate the food we gave to him. what happened to him several days after leaving Hinundayan down to Iligan City then to Marawi City, living in these p years before deciding to venture to Metro Manila

.There I lived for several years working in different establishments. When I los t my latest job at Salcedo Village in Makati, I decided to finally go back to my home province for good. On the other hand, the fight between cat and snake is not a common occurrence. S ince childhood until now, it was only after I graduated in high school in Ozamis City(my second home) as a working student, that I was able to witness such a ra re encounter of the two opposing creatures. The fight between cat and snake is only possible if a house, similar to our loca tion, or near the bushes is the habitation to some snakes; but to see them fight ing with your own eyes is very rare. Nonetheless, even in this kind of situation and habitation, there nce that such kind of encounter can happen. s still a slim cha

In Hinundayan where some folks have resided near ricefields, nipa tree plantatio ns or in thick bushes and tall weeds, snake and cat fight is really not a surefi

re treat that it will occur. However, the uncommon face off of small two creatures is an interesting grab for any provincial or national newspaper. If I have a camera at that time, I would have captured it. I would be sending it to a provincial or national newspaper fo r possible consideration on its front page space. This kind of a rare find is what makes newspaper sold like hot cakes. Most parti cularly to photo collectors, animal lovers and curious readers.(Quirico M. Gorpi do,Jr.)