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The Beast Within By |
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“Look at them,” I whispered to my husband.
“All cuddled together like that.”
“Just like big old kitties.” Johnny
put his arms around my waist and I leaned against him.
“Big old kitties that can bite your head off.”
Leo sat back down in his seat beside our guide.
It didn’t take long for the old man to get antsy.
“We’re done here, Jason. Drive
on.”
“Don’t you want to see them hunt?”
Jason gripped the steering wheel, staring out the window.
“HUNT?” It was
“Maybe them?” Our heads
turned in unison, following Jason’s long pointed finger.
Mary lifted her binoculars. Leo
stood up, fumbling with his video cam. A
herd of wildebeest grazed less than fifty yards away.
Jason turned off the engine and in the silence that followed, we
heard them lowing and stamping.
“How do you know she’s going to hunt?”
Mary focused on the herd, keeping her voice low.
Even as she said it, the lioness stood up and stretched again
facing away from the wildebeest, pressing her forepaws into the dense
grass, her hindquarters and tail in the air.
“She’s looking the other way. She
doesn’t even know they are there.” Leo
hit his camera on the edge of the open roof with a metallic clank,
startling us all.
Jason put a finger to his lips. “Sssh!”
Leo grunted, embarrassed to be admonished.
I smiled at him.
“She knows.” Johnny
watched the action through the telephoto lens of his Nikon.
The lioness pirouetted on her muscular hind legs, twisting in
mid-air to face the wildebeest, landing on her stomach, crouched low in
the thick grass. The classic
mouser’s pose.
“Time for breakfast.” Jason
told us as the lioness fixed her gaze on the herd who continued to graze,
oblivious to the danger creeping toward them.
Johnny adjusted his focus, the lens pointed over my right shoulder.
The lioness put one paw in front of the other like a housecat prior
to a mischievous ambush, but she was hungry and dead serious.
Closer and closer – the black dots on the tips of her ears
visible through the morning-wet grass. I
held my breath, expecting her to charge at any moment.
“The others are still snoozing. You
think she can bring down a wildebeest by herself?”
Mary lowered her binoculars.
Jason shrugged. “Maybe she
goes after babies.”
The cat sprang forward. A
wildebeest sentinel stationed near the front of the herd squawked, “Ahhhhnnnnn!”
and the hundred or so animals whirled together and ran off.
The lioness, caught in the beginning of her charge, stopped
mid-stride and snorted in dismay. Glancing
over her shoulder at her snoring sisters, she sighed as if to say, “Oh
well.” Either she wasn’t
all that hungry, or she wasn’t in the mood to chase after the herd
without her companions. She trotted
back to the other cats and plopped down among them, rolling onto her back
with all four paws in the air.
“I told you she wasn’t going to hunt.”
Leo slid back down into his seat. “This
was a waste of time.”
“You think she’s done?” I
asked.
Our guide started up the truck. “She’s
a lazy girl.”
We held on to the rim of the roof, bending our knees to absorb the
bumps as Jason drove down the rutted road. Not
too far away, a row of vans and trucks blocked our way.
Jason pulled in behind them. Off
to our left, a small herd of elephants huddled together.
They were so close we could hear them ripping great sheaves of
grass out of the ground with their trunks. Mostly
females with babies ranging from infants to adolescents, the huge beasts
ignored us and the six other murmuring vehicles bristling with binoculars
and cameras.
After a few minutes, the other trucks drove off – one by one.
We folded our arms on the rim of the roof and rested our chins on
our hands, watching these beautiful creatures caressing their offspring
with gentle trunks. Leo fidgeted.
After a few moments, he could stand it no longer.
“Soba, soba. Let’s go.”
Jason looked up at me. “Don’t
you want to see them cross the road?”
“Cross the road?” We all
chorused. Jason had complete
credibility after the lioness incident.
“Sssh!”
He turned off the engine and we waited. Now
we could hear the calves squeaking from time to time as they played with
each other and the adults’ deep rumbling communications.
After a few minutes, the herd began inching towards us.
We all looked at Jason with new respect.
“How did you know they’d do that?”
Mary hissed. “Sssh.”
Jason touched his index finger to his lips. Slowly,
the elephants worked their way towards us. As
they approached the road, they parted and surrounded our van.
Looming over us, a female with one broken tusk paused to guide two
calves around the back bumper. I
looked up at her. At first I
thought maybe she was wary of me then I realized she was curious.
She was close enough to tip the truck over if she so chose, but I
wasn’t afraid of her. She
wasn’t friendly so much as polite. Johnny
gripped my elbow, breaking the spell. The
elephant focused on her children. As
close as they were, none of us thought to take a picture.
They moved away and Leo lifted his video cam, muttering into the
microphone to explain what he was filming. Mary
let out a breath. I realized I
should breathe too. “Soba,
soba?” Jason asked as the
elephants moved off into a thicket. “Soba,
soba.” Johnny answered.
We sat down together, reflective as Jason started the engine. “She
recognized us,” I said. “I
know,” he answered. |
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