Finnish emergency services remove viper from home after late-night call

A fully grown viper slithered into a detached house in Asikkala, southern Finland, on Friday evening, prompting residents to call emergency services after failing to remove the snake themselves, Finnish broadcaster Yle reports.

Firefighters arrived quickly but initially found no trace of the snake, according to duty station chief Jari Vornanen. After a persistent search, they located it hiding under a kitchen cabinet.

“Vipers can squeeze into surprisingly small spaces,” Vornanen noted. Crews used sturdy tongs to secure the snake—“cheese works for mice, but not for vipers,” he quipped—before relocating it in a cardboard box to a distant forest. “It hissed loudly when we let it go, so it’s probably fine,” he added.

Vornanen speculated the snake had entered through an unknown opening, calling its removal a relief for the household. “Last night would’ve been pretty tense if we hadn’t found it,” he said.