King of the Beasts!

Hey all!

First of all... I KNOW this is NOT BigGaySexy, but I just have to tell you this story or I think I'll BURST!

I love kids, I have two and one's even 17 and I haven't killed her yet. So I feel I'm a pretty patient and understanding parent. But I hate to hear kids screaming at the top of their lungs in public places, I blame parents for not controlling them better and for not having the forethought to NOT take very young children into situations that require a bit of self control. Nice restaurants is one, I DO NOT want to have kids screaming and yelling a the table next to me. Less than 10 feet from a ferocious wild animal is another. Maybe not a good idea to anger the hungry lion...

We went to the zoo today and were walking through the cat exhibit. Usually these beauties are just laying around looking board, but today was the first nice day (no rain, no cold) and all the animals seemed more active and happy. We approached the lion exhibit and there was a man standing with a stroller with a child (less than 1 year old) absolutely screaming it's head off. He was doing nothing to calm the child, just looking around like an idiot. Probably waiting for it's mother to return and calm the baby rather than he lifting a finger to do anything.

He was standing with the stroller as close to the exhibit fence as possible with his back to the exhibit (baby screaming away from the exhibit). We started along the ramp to walk through and see where the cat was. We say a big male lion pacing around inside. This was the first time in our visits where we'd actually seen him up and walking, so that in itself was pretty cool! I told our friend's son to get his camera ready for a picture as the lion approached.

Something in the lion's eyes was different. He wasn't just lazily pacing, he was intent on something. He walked right up to the fence where the man was standing and the lion ROARED!

Oh my god! It was the most amazing, chilling, incredible experience I've ever witnessed! This massive male lion with full mane started bellowing this roar (presumably to shut up the crying kid!) that lasted for almost a full minute! Everyone stood dumbstruck in awe at this sight! No one moved! The lion didn't try to paw at the bars or try to get out, it was just roaring it's displeasure!

The sound was like something from a deep tunnel. It had an echo that proved just how massive this cat's lungs were and how powerful he really was. And the big part was, as incredible and awesome the roar was, it was obvious it was just a "Hey, I'm annoyed!" kind of roar. The cat wasn't mad or intending to attack, just vocalizing it's displeasure.

We could feel the vibrations of the roar in our chest. It was so AMAZING!!

Unfortunately my brain didn't kick into gear until the roar was almost over, but I realized my friend's son's camera had a video mode. I grabbed the camera from him and quickly switched it to video, but too late to catch the real roar. All I got was a "hurumph" kind of grump at the end, then the amazed reaction of the kids and adults that had witnessed it.

Everybody had totally forgotten about the idiot dad and screaming kid by this time, so I don't know if he got wise and high tailed it outta there or what. Everyone was just in awe at this event. I suppose it's not often people get to actually hear a lion roar in person, unless they are about to be eaten themselves!

It was an amazing experience and one I'll never forget. Above is the actual picture of the lion in mid roar. I won't bother uploading the short video because it's so pathetic compared to the real thing.

Peace and Long Life,

PaunFarr