Preyed upon

Tree

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 2, 2001
Messages
1,384
Location
Louisiana, USA, Earth
Hi all,

I know some of you have heard Katrina related stories, here's one that's kind of lighthearted and scary all at the same time. And it happened to ME!

We eventually made it to Lafayette to stay with my cousins for a while. After a while we had some serious cabin fever so my cousin took us and her 7 year old daughter to the local Zoo http://www.zooofacadiana.org/. We had a good time looking at all the reptiles and animals. My leg was in a large brace from my knee and ankle surgeries but by this time I was walking without crutches I just had an obvious limp.

When we got to the white tiger exhibit there was this balcony you could climb several sets of stairs to get on to overlook the tigers. I told Beth, Nathan, Sharon, and Morgan to go ahead up and I'll meet them when they came back down. After all that walking the stairs didn't seem to inviting for me. Well, I limped my way past 3 big windows to the tigers exhibit not seeing any white tigers I continued on until I was just past the last window by a few parakeets who were saying "hello". I also saw a really big ( about 3 inches long ) spider and started to take pictures.

IMG_0587copy.jpg


Well I didn't notice that I was being watched! I had the feeling that eyes were upon me and turned around to find the same look I get when my own cats are about to pounce on me.

IMG_0582copy.jpg


As I stared this huge tiger in the eyes Beth and the gang came down the stairs and started to walk in my direction. Morgan was ahead of them and ran in front of the window to give me a hug. This must have startled the tiger and he pounced at the window aiming straight at ME! He bounced off the window letting out a loud GROWL and disappeared for a second. Thank god the Plexiglas window held. It bulged out quite a bit when he hit it.

After that shock we were gathering our senses when I looked again and saw he was ready for a another attack.

IMG_0584copy.jpg


That's when we decided to mosey on to another exhibit.

It wasn't until we got to Sharon's house that we realized what was happening. Her husband and two sons are avid hunters and said the tiger saw me and my limp as easy prey. Tigers will go for the easy food first, and apparently I looked easy to catch and eat.

It's a good thing it was my leg they worked on and not my heart, that really got the adrenalin pumping.

Working hard not to limp anymore,
Billy
 

Icebreak

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 14, 2002
Messages
4,998
Location
by the river
Oh my.

The look in his eyes says a lot. But after reading the explanation for the behavior...yup. He was stalking his prey and that be you.

That's something else.
 

James S

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Joined
Aug 27, 2002
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Location
on an island surrounded by reality
That spider is a banana spider :) We have them here that big and bigger!

They are scary looking and beautiful. there are 2 webs that I can pass on the daily walks with the kids just off the bike trail around here and we visit them every morning and say hello and watch her sitting there quietly waiting for something to happen.

I should bring a camera along when we walk again in a little bit...


The Tiger sneaking up on you is awesome! :D
 

James S

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 27, 2002
Messages
5,078
Location
on an island surrounded by reality
OK, so I did take my camera :) It's hard to take a good picture of a spider, even one as big as your hand like this one...

bigspider.jpg


looks like the same kind doesn't it? We had a thread about them last year and I posted a different pic of one that was in my backyard that was almost this big.

I also got a good picture of the Heron that lives in the pond down the road:

bigheron.jpg


But sorry, no Tigers in the neighborhood. At least not that I noticed... there is the occasional alligator though...

Very cool tiger stalking picture ;) I can almost feel it stalking me from here :D
 

Sixpointone

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 6, 2004
Messages
862
Hi Tree,

That is an amazing story. But more than that I am glad that you are safe!

Take Care,
John
 

LumenHound

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Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Messages
1,797
Location
Toronto
:wow: That's pretty scarry. How long did it take for your pulse to return to normal?
 

Topper

Flashaholic*
Joined
Dec 1, 2003
Messages
2,630
Location
North East Arkansas
Glad you are fine. Darn shame that limp/easyprey don't seem to work on squrrels,rabbits,deer and bass. No Tigers here but they look like good eats with a little BBQ sauce.
Topper
 

daloosh

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Joined
Jan 28, 2004
Messages
1,569
Location
New York
Wow, Tree, glad you are getting some R&R. Well, OK, I'm glad you are getting out a bit, if not exactly relaxation! THanks for the pics!
daloosh
 

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
14,432
Location
In a handbasket
Glad you're ok if not a little bit rattled by the event!

Some birds will fake a broken wing to distract a nearby predator from attacking their young. Then they take off at the last moment, leaving a surprised and honked-off predator!
 
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