Lion

Friday May 31, 2013

Asiatic Lion- present-day female, 163 kg, India (lives on border of Gir Protected Area)

But the eating is too good at the Man village. We can not pass on another chance. Even with two casualties. The rogues are cautious. I sense two of our lionesses are pregnant with their cubs. I bare my teeth when they try me. I am not ready yet. We fight, sometimes.

But within eighteen rise and falls of the sun. We are back.

Prey has run dry elsewhere. There is nowhere to turn to for food. I manage to catch squirrels in the woods. Rats that run beneath our feet. Birds of prey when they hunt rats. Their talons are dangerous. They rake our backs. It opens wounds, fresh and old. There is a danger of our eyes, plucked out by the claws. But we must run this risk. The pride brings down a few of these birds. Until they no longer pass this way.

We travel farther into the woods, hungry. Starving. Our stomachs touch our spines. We are bone thin. We rest longer. Our energy diminishes with each passing day. We attack boar . We tear them apart. Eat them alive. Their hearts still beat as we work our way around eating. Savages. The prideful lions have become savages.

Our land has been shrunken short. What used to be paradise. Now surrounded by Man dwellings. We only have a patch of woods to call home. It is not enough for nomads like us. Man is dangerous. They have taken my sister and another female. But there is no other way to survive.

We creep down, for the second time in eighteen days. Everything is familiar. The remains of animals have been cleared. My sister’s corpse is gone. But I can still smell the blood.

The blood in the air.

Suddenly one of the males shoots out. A flurry of motion in the chicken pens excites him. The rest of us crouch down and stalk forward. Hurriedly but cautiously. It is dusk. There are no Man creatures in sight. I taste the air. The smell of Man clogs my nostrils. That and the animal odors. I cannot smell anything else.

I stop in my path. The male continues racing. I notice it just as he runs into it; the Man barrier.

A barrier that sparks and fizzes. Electric. I register the low hum. Why hadn’t I heard it before?

There is a deafening ZAP! and sizzles as the male smokes on the fence. He yelps and twists. He gets himself caught in the wires. Even more. Hurt. Pain. Extreme pain. Terrible pain. Terror. I can see it from his eyes. The electricity jolts his body up, but he is caught. The awful smell of smoking fur. I see him again. His eyes are cloudy white and lifeless. He does not make another noise.

I shriek with terror as Man yells come out again. The lions bolt. I am ahead of everyone in the hunt. Now I am behind everyone in our retreat. I run as fast as I can go. The sound comes. Just after the dirt blows up. I have not run faster.

My legs are a blur. And yet...

In the next WHIZZ! CRACK!  pain erupts from my leg. I stumble and fall.

My head slams against the ground. Blood warm blood oozes from my lower foot. It hurts so much. Pain. So much pain. Terrible hurt hurt hurt hurt.

I yowl. But I do not want to be hit again. I must drag myself to safety. I get up and limp fast as I can. The others have disappeared. I am the only one left. My foot is dead. Like the male on the fence. Like my sister. Like my cubs. But pain. I can endure pain.

I run. BOOM! Man is firing again. The bomb hits the ground not far from me. I yelp and swivel. Water is near me. It should not be here. It is Man made. So deep. A well.

And I fall into it.

Lions are not good swimmers. My leg does me worse.

Panic fills my heart. Water fills my lungs. I gasp. Breathe. Choke. Cough. Cough in the water. My head rises again. Paws a flurry beneath me. Pain in my leg dragging me down. Down. Down. Blood. Water in my nose. Water everywhere. In my ears. In my eyes. Stinging my wound. Blood mingles with the water. My head goes down again. Bobbing. I struggle. Cough. Choke. Cough. Water rushes in my body. It shouldn’t be there.

Up. Down. I cannot breathe anymore. I gasp. Choke. Thrash in the water. I do not like water.

Splashing is too loud. Too much in my ears. Pain is intense. In my lungs. In my eyes. Pressing on my leg.

I am weak.

My paws are becoming rigid. Like ice.

My body is thin. Bony.

I think I will give up.

Dark. It is so dark.