OT..Iv'e tried to hold it together

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

But I just can't!

 

 

[Guest Tazkiller]

Anyone with a heart will shed a tear over that.

[Javito1986 14]

Funny how humans and lions can get along so well when they take the time to get to know each other! Alas we're usually too interested in taking their territory and they're usually too interested in eating us

[AROTH 0]

If only humans could be like that.....

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

If only humans could be like that.....

 

Indeed m8

[Flyby PC 23]

No way would I have done that. Not EVER!

 

It's odd, but there's another video I've seen where lions actually attack and kill a man, while his family have to watch from their car. It's not pretty, and the video usually gets pulled pretty quick off Youtube.

 

The thing is, it's not the graphic nature of the footage which is most shocking, but rather the 'gentle' way these predators overcome their prey. It's not a violent bloodbath, but absolute power overcoming all resistance. As I watched Christian the 'cuddly' lion, and even the second lioness close to these people, it struck me just how easily, and casually, this could all have gone terribly, terribly wrong. I cannot imagine the thought processes going through the second lion's mind trying to make sense of what she was seeing. She wasn't tame, and her every instinct must have been to kill. In the video below, the poor man you watch being killed didn't have time to run away because the lions were on him before he realised the danger he was in. It's difficult even to call it an attack. It's simply a predator dispatching his prey by stealth and sheer dominance. That's what they do, and that's how they live, and these guys are extraordinarily lucky that their reunuion with Christian was not a distraction to let other lions close in for the kill..

 

Be warned now, this is graphic and will shock you. Don't watch if you don't have the stomach for it.

 

Edit - My point isn't to make you watch something horrible, but watch how little warning there is before things go badly wrong, and once they do go wrong, there is nothing anyone can do. You have to respect these animals, because it's them who end up getting shot if we don't.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP_JQz5WCFU

Edited April 28, 2011 by Flyby PC

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

It's interesting to note, that predatory animals have been witnessed, interacting and sometimes even playing with their usual prey.

Man has become so removed from Nature now..we fail to understand Nature itself!...what goes on in the wild is so far removed now..everything surprises and shocks us!...we sometimes think that Animals are as sick and twisted as humans are..that Nature is a bloodbath...but Animals of course, derive no pleasure from torturing, maiming and killing in the way we as a species seem to 'get off on'

 

A hungry Lion is of course, a very dangerous animal...and is when it has young, or territory to defend...but it doesnt kill without good reason...and this is clearly demonstrated in the Christian Video (I dont wish to watch the guy being killed..as I just feel it's voyeuristic)

 

 

I'm equally split between feeling utterly ashamed to be a Human Being..and totally proud of the fact...I love nothing more, than to be as far away from the city as possible, and intend to live out my life, as close to Nature again as possible...I cant yet, as I have to earn enough of that revolting paper stuff as I can, to realise my dream!...but when that day comes..my hermit's address book will be VERY empty

[tranquillo 10]

A little OT, but I have a strange affinity with tigers since I was privileged enough to see one in the wild no more than 10 feet away. She was with 2 cubs and obviously saw us as no threat.

The reason I say "strange" is because a good friend of mine was a tiger keeper at a zoo and was killed by one.

 

I totally agree with you WM the world would be a much better place if more of us got closer to nature to enjoy it rather than to destroy it.

[Flyby PC 23]

I hope nobody thinks I was being inappropriate about showing the clip of the man dying, but I readily apologise if anybody is upset. All I intended to show was how quickly a fatal tragedy can arise in a matter of seconds if you don't pay due respect to these kinds of animals.

 

I have a tremendous affinity with animals, but equally, I know they just don't think the same way we do. When you interact with any animal, especially a wild one, it will interpret your body language and expressions using it's vocabulary, never yours. It's a dangerous state of mind to believe you've somehow 'connected' with an animal and that you understand what one another is thinking. There was a farmer killed not far from here a few years ago, gored to death by his prize bull. He'd been in beside his bull to check on it and give it a pat on the back every day of it's life and never had any problem until he just popped in to the see the bull after he'd been to a wedding. Whether it was the different clothes he was wearing or perhaps the smell of aftershave or drink on his breath, for some reason the bull didn't know him and percieved his over-familiar proximity as a threat and attacked him. Another tragedy occurred with a mates dog when I was at college. He had the softest happy-go-lucky labrador called Barney which was as harmless as it was gormless, loads of fun and no threat to anybody. - Not until my mate had a son, and that one day the kid developed an interest in Barney's food bowl when the dog was eating - and he got himself attacked. The kid was fine, but it was serious enough that Barney had to be destroyed, and all because nobody read the warning signs in the canine pecking order.

 

Don't get me wrong, you certainly can have a strong bond with an animal, I do with both my dogs, but I never forget there are deeper thought processes going on behind those 'big brown eyes' that have evolved from the wolf, refined through countless generations of evolution. There is a latent wolf in every dog, and it doesn't take much to bring it out. I'd go canny meeting up my dogs if they had been running wild for more than a year, - but these guys were saying hello to a fully grown lion!!! If I'd been them, the first few moments of any reunion would have been from the safety of a vehicle. That way I don't risk getting eaten, and my guide doesn't have to shoot my long lost furry friend if it all turns nasty.

 

I understand and respect what you mean about voyeurism, but I don't think it is goulish to look at such things. Then again, I think I'm more relaxed about the concept of death than most people. Don't get me wrong, I don't dress in black, chant prayers to darkness or have a collection of favorite dead things kept in a drawer. I'm quite normal and hopefully well balanced. My father died when I was 11, and when that kind of thing happens, it hardens you and you start dealing with stuff from an earlier age. I was also raised as a son of the soil, and I think when you grow up with a farming background you see things in the raw, and I think you develop a more immediate understanding of life and death and how easy it comes and goes. It's not unhealthy or morbid, it's just all around you and you grow accustomed to things which other people often find more upsetting.

[tranquillo 10]

I hope nobody thinks I was being inappropriate about showing the clip of the man dying, but I readily apologise if anybody is upset. All I intended to show was how quickly a fatal tragedy can arise in a matter of seconds if you don't pay due respect to these kinds of animals.

 

 

 

Absolutely no offense taken . Sorry if you thought I was offended - that wasn't my intention.

[Javito1986 14]

No offense at all. Seen worse to be honest, at least a lion takes you quickly. It never ceases to impress me how swiftly, quietly and indeed casually things can go wrong. My father did lifeguard work once upon a time and he'd always say that that the hard part was learning the signs of someone in trouble because drowning happens very fast and above all quietly. Not even a hint of the thrashing and yelling you see in movies.

 

They took a risk with meeting Christian again but... y'know honestly I'd probably do the same. I've never had a lion obviously, but I've bonded incredibly with dogs I've raised and will freely admit to trusting them implicitly... with myself, mind you. Even with the nicest one I'd never be so fool as to leave alone with a child he's unfamiliar with (like one of my nephews), and I was careful introducing him to the wife, just recognizing that he was a big fellow and quite capable of doing damage to any perceived threats. Hell that's one of the things I loved about him, amazing guard dog and extremely protective. But when someone unknown would come to visit you bet I'd send him out back.

 

So with Christian the lion, them having raised him since babyhood, I can see standing there and trusting him. I get that. I'd have been a bit concerned when his woman showed up though

[von Baur 54]

I'm not surprised. I'm a cat lover and have had dozens in the last 35 years. And any cat lover will tell you that the only difference between house cats and jungle cats is they're size. They all behave exactly the same way in everything they do. And any cat lover will also tell you that they are probably among the smartest animals around. Nor am I surprised at how well Christian's mate accepted his friends. Again, being an intelligent creature she understood that if he saw them as not food and not a threat then she should as well. I've often had stand-offish cats come to me, albeit cautiously, once I've managed to get one of their number to trust me, especially if the first is one considered a leader (prime member in the group or kittens following a mother's lead).

 

*edit*

All that said, FlybyPC has a very valid point. The results could have been tragically different.

Edited May 1, 2011 by von Baur

[themightysrc 5]

"I'm not surprised. I'm a cat lover and have had dozens in the last 35 years. And any cat lover will tell you that the only difference between house cats and jungle cats is they're size. They all behave exactly the same way in everything they do. And any cat lover will also tell you that they are probably among the smartest animals around. Nor am I surprised at how well Christian's mate accepted his friends. Again, being an intelligent creature she understood that if he saw them as not food and not a threat then she should as well. I've often had stand-offish cats come to me, albeit cautiously, once I've managed to get one of their number to trust me, especially if the first is one considered a leader (prime member in the group or kittens following a mother's lead). "

 

As the 'owner' - or rather staff - for three cats, I'd heartily agree. Henry, our large and ferocious Maine Coon, presents us on a regular basis with dead animals - mice, voles, rats, starlings, magpies, blackbirds; his appetite for murder seems insatiable. And yet. When he comes back in and comes to us (me and MrsMighty), he is as soft as s**t, and clearly, if there's some sort of pecking order or bonding going on, he sees us as providers and friends. It's just the butchery that makes you shudder: a little like living with Jeckyll and Hyde...

[Shiloh 12]

I've always had domestic cats myself over my entire life and as much as I've been around them, I can say I don't fully understand what goes through their heads. My cat Charlie is a strong, healthy cat in his prime (6 years old) and is very affectionate, yet has a "frisky" side where he may scratch or bite at any time. Sometimes he gets so frisky (especially when I'm barefoot) and he tries to come after my exposed skin. I'm not a timid guy at all and it can be a bit scary as he has real sharp claws and a few times he latched on to my ankle and jacked me up pretty good. There is no doubt that he loves me and sees me as his master and I love him too and he knows it but he has a touch of wild instinct, and it is just that - natural instinct. That's why I respect it and don't hold it against him.

 

I don't know anything about his parents but I do know his litter was found in the back of an old abandoned pickup truck so my guess would be his parents (or at least one of them) lived outside and used to hunt for survival. I've seen him take squirrels and birds as quick as lightning and I'm amazed by his athleticism. But as mentioned above, there are few differences between him to a lion/tiger other than size. One thing about any cat is you can read their body language as that is how they communicate and I know when and when not to approach my cat.

 

When I was driving through northern California one night while on vacation with my sister, I saw a dark figure of an animal crouching in the road as my headlights shone off its eyes. It then leapt seemingly without any effort up a roughly 8 foot embankment and we couldn't believe what we just saw. I couldn't ID the cat but no doubt it was a big cat as there is nothing else I can think of with that power and grace. I gained a new respect for those big cats and will never underestimate their athleticism or prowess. They are wild animals after all and should be appreciated and respected.

[von Baur 54]

Charlie's just playing, Shiloh. And that's the other potential danger here. Sometimes cats don't realize how much more tender our skin is and how much more fragile our bones. In playing, if Christian had forgotten that, he could have injured or killed one of them, and that could have been misinterpretted by his mate as an attack, which she would have assisted.

 

When I was a boy our next-door neighbors, two spinster sisters, always had cats. Much of what I know about them was derived from my older brother and me capturing the kittens and teaching them that we were their friends (it made sense when I was six, trust me-and it worked). Kittens barely six or seven weeks old, their legs not much more than three inches long, would jump three or more feet straight up to clear the barriers we'd set. And it never ceases to amaze me how they jump to whatever they want to jump on and land nearly as softly as if they'd stepped down an inch. Cats are the second-best animals on the planet.

 

 

 

Ferrets are first.

[Javito1986 14]

Cats are lovely. My best friend growing up was one. Cleverest little fellow you ever met.

[Shiloh 12]

It's tough to explain to my kids (who are terrified of him) that he's just playing. My kids give him a real wide berth when walking around him and I've been trying to explain to them that sometimes he wants to be pet, and other times he doesn't. My 4- year-old is learning to read his body language and always asks if it's OK to pet him. I evaluate his posture then say yes or no based on what I see. If he's flicking that tail up and down quick or if he is laying on his side with paws up you might get hurt when approaching him. It's a bit unfortunate that when he plays he can hurt someone as I'm the only one who will risk injury to give him some good attention.

 

I do love the little guy so I'll take him at face value despite his aggressive side.

Edited May 1, 2011 by Shiloh

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Absolutely no offence taken by me either flypc...and I certainly agree with you about the dangers of thinking animals have the same thought processes as us.

I'm a Dog Fan...yes, cat's are ok..I have a very old one, but for me..Dogs are where it's at

[Flyby PC 23]

I like cats too, for all of the above reasons, but I won't keep one because I like to feed wild birds and the two just don't mix. I'd have a hard time liking my cat if it kept nailing all my little friends at the bird table, - but the blame would be mine for bringing the two together. So no cat.