The Lion Queen

We heard from some other expats in town that for an extra fee you can pet/handle the lion cubs that were recently born at our local zoo.  Hmm, should we go?  Of course!!!

A few days later, we went to the zoo, and sure enough, three cubs three months old were there.  Crazy cute.  As we sat on the ground, a keeper would put one on our lap.  We took lots of pictures and video.  Here are a some favorites.

Yep, sure enough, this claw is real.

Commence good, crazy, slightly frightening story …

We were having a great time until … Val was sitting on the ground petting one when another cub came up behind her and bit her on the upper arm.  (Quick fast forward – she’s absolutely fine now – absolutely no problems – no infection – nothing of concern.  Breathe a sigh of relief and give thanks to God.)

It looked more like a scratch than a bite which penetrated the skin but did not produce bleeding.  Her t-shirt, at the site of the bite, was not ripped or damaged, and there were no signs of her blood on the t-shirt.  It was painful though, and Val did cry.  The cub keepers looked at the wound (multiple times), said it wasn’t serious, said they get nipped/bit often, and that the lions are all healthy.

We were still very concerned though.  We were thinking of rabies or some crazy lion bacteria that causes severe infections.  Oh my, not fun.

Here in our city, there’s an expat infectious disease doctor whom we contacted.  (Just a little glad he’s around!)  This doctor contacted an expat vet here in town – one whom actually raised a big cat from infancy a number of years ago.

Both the doctor and vet said there was nothing to worry about; Val would be fine.  We kept a close eye on Val taking her temperature regularly and taking care of the wound.  Val’s overall health continued to be just fine and the wound healed really, really nicely.  Now Val can say she survived being bit by a lion.  Not many kids can say that.

We praise God for His sovereignty in this situation.  Lori and I agree that the Lord controlled the bite to go only so far and not further.  And we’re so thankful for the doctor and vet here in town to give us assurance.

When Val was bit, Lori was right there and she did what any sensible, compassionate and calm parent would do … punch the cub hard on the nose!!!  The cub (a young, ornery, male lion cub) released Val’s  arm.  We think that’s when the ‘scratch’ happened on Val’s arm – when the cub pulled away from Val.  We learned later that we should have pressed down on the lower, back teeth to get him to release the bite.  (Go ahead and put that in your memory bank the next time you, a friend, or a loved one is bit by a lion.)  But in the moment, you just want the beast off!!!  After she was bit, Val was a bit shaken, but she’s been her normal self since then.  (And I have since used this experience to teach the girls the basic wisdom of staying away from any young male – especially boys.)

Actually, the next day, the vet went to see the cubs – out of his own desire/curiosity and not because Val had been bit.  He checked out the cubs giving us the assurance that they’re all healthy.

Val (and myself) is hoping for a bit of a scar as proof of the incident. J

The bite now looks like a healed scratch.

Now that this story is shared in full, here are some more pictures of the cuddly, vicious, sharp-toothed, soft, ornery, cute beasts.

Playing around

Sizable paw

And this is the guy that bit my daughter.  I don't know why I'm smiling because I wasn't happy with him.  I took him aside, and we had a little ‘chat.’

After all this excitement/trauma, we got in a bus with steel-barred windows to drive through the big cat/bear/wolf exhibit.  We’ve done this a number of times before, but this time was different – it was SNACK TIME!  (No, on the menu was NOT an eight year-old American girl as the cub had thought.)  In the bus was a big bucket of chicken parts.  These were skewered and stuck out the window.

First to be fed were the tigers.  Having the tiger this close makes those bars look not all that thick.

Then the lions.

 

Then this bear – whose type is still a mystery to me – maybe a Himalayan brown bear or Tibetan blue bear.  We all absolutely love his ears.

 

The feeding was enjoyable – and exciting.  And the only thing to get bit was the raw chicken.

And finally, here’s a picture of the bite the day after Val got mauled.

Neuschwan-meg

I dedicate this post to my high school German teacher, Herr Schmidt.  (Indeed, I liked his class.)

It's been a few weeks in the making, but Megan's castle is finished!  Lookin' good!  I like the "M" banners.  And I'm particularly fond of her signature in the bottom right corner.

Saturday Festivity

On this particular Saturday mid-morning, we became aware of quite the gathering next to our apartment complex.  It was a local custom to dedicate or consecrate the construction area.  Lia and Meg immediately donned their shoes to get a closer look, and they did so by climbing the "exercise equipment."

 
Delivered through a very robust sound system, a man was continually chanting.  We couldn't make out what he was saying.  And I don't know what they're burning in the fire.

Not surprisingly, out came the rolls and rolls of firecrackers.  They lit these at the same time and are hoped to drive away any evil spirits ... or people with sensitive hearing.  It ... was ... loud!

Then a man walked the area while flinging pans of water in the air.  I might like to think that he was trying to extinguish the left over firecrackers, but it was more likely some type of anointing.

Then across the way, we saw our Mongolian friend, Natalie.  She's with her younger brother whom we refer to as Rascal.  He, well, is a rascal.  

Hi, Natalie!  She's super sweet.  And she's the one who always comments about our Christmas tree that she can see through our living room window.