Lion: 11 Facts

       A lion, a wild animal belonging to the cat family, celebrated for its strength and ferocity. The large head, flashing eye and heavy mane, characteristic of the male, give it a regal appearance that is reflected in the name king of beasts.

11 Facts About Lions:

1. The voice of the creature is a mighty roar, and is probably the loudest call among animals.
2. By nature the lion is less ferocious than the tiger, and is disinclined to attack man, but when angered or driven by hunger, it becomes fierce and terrible; when roused is a most dangerous adversary.
3. The lion is one of the largest members of the cat family, sometimes reaching a height of three feet and a weight of 500 pounds.
4. It is distinguished by its tawny or yellow color, tufted tail and, in the male, full flowing mane.
5. When the male is three years old its mane begins to grow; at six or seven years the lion is full grown, and at about twenty-two it is feeble and decrepit.
6. Lions make their lairs in hidden eaves, dense thickets, brushwood and other secluded places.
7. They hunt their prey at night, attacking antelopes, zebras and other wild animals, if these are available; in regions where wild game is scarce they seize camels, cattle, ponies, goats, etc.
8. The young are born in the spring, and the whelps, usually three in number, begin life with their eyes open.
9. They are given tender care by both parents until able to take care of themselves.
10. Lions are found at large only in Africa and parts of Central and Western Asia, but long years ago they were common in Europe and in many parts of Asia.
11. Today there are none in Asia Minor, Egypt or Arabia, and there are few left in India.

More About Lions From The Web:

• Best Lion Moments - BBC Earth
• Part of The Lion Pride - Dean Schneider living with lions
• The Man-eaters of Tsavo - Big Cats

The Circus Procession

The Circus Procession 

by Evaleen Stein

Oh, hurry! hurry! here they come,
The band in front with the big bass drum
And blaring bugles, — there they are,
On golden thrones in a golden car,
Tooting and fluting, oh, how grand I
Hi diddle, diddle!
The fife and the fiddle!
Hurrah , hurrah for the circus band!

And the red-plumed horses, oh, see them
prance
And daintily lift their hoofs and dance,
While beautiful ladies with golden curls
Are jingling their bridles of gold and pearls,
And close behind
Come every kind
Of animal cages great and small,
O how I wonder what’s in them all!
Here’s one that’s open and glaring there
Is the shaggiest snow-white polar bear I
Woof! but I wonder what we’d do
If his bars broke loose right now, don't you?
And O dear me!
Just look and see 

That pink-cheeked lady in skirts of gauze
And the great big lion with folded paws!
O me I O my!
I’m glad that I
Am not in that lion’s cage, because
Suppose he'd open his horrible jaws !
— But look ! the clown is coming ! Of course
Facing the tail of a spotted horse
And shouting out things to make folks
laugh,
And grinning up at the tall giraffe
That placidly paces along and looks
Just like giraffes in the picture-books!
And there are the elephants, two and two,
Lumbering on as they always do!
The men who lead them look so small
I wonder the elephants mind at all
As they wag their queer
Long trunks, and peer
Through their beady eyes, — folks say they
know
No end of things, and I’m sure it’s so!
And you never must do a thing that’s bad
Or that possibly might make an elephant
mad,
For he’ll never forgive you, it appears,
And will punish you sure, if it takes him
years !
So do not stare
But take good care
To mind your manners, and always try
To smile politely as they go by!
But the camels don’t care if you laugh at
them
With their bumpy humps like a capital M,
They lurch and sway
And seem to say,
As they wrinkle their noses, long and gray,
“ This swaggering stride is quite the plan,
It’s the way we walked in the caravan!”
And now more cages come rumbling by
With glittering people throned on high;
So many spangles and precious things,
They surely must all be queens and kings!
They look so proud
Above the crowd, 

O my, how fine it must feel to ride

On golden wagons that hide inside

Strange animals caught in cannibal isles

And brought in ships for a million miles!

But hark ! it's near

The end, for hear

That sudden screeching in piercing key!

The steaming, screaming cal-li-o-pe!

Just plain pianos sound terribly tame

Beside this one with the wonderful name,

And wouldn’t you love some day to sit

In a circus wagon and play on it?

Paper Circus Performers For Little Ones

Color the following circus performers for big top fun!

Color and cut-out this paper lion tamer.

Color and cut-out this paper clown and elephant.

Color and cut-out this performing horseback rider.

More Circus Paper Projects:

• Balloon Nose Clown Craft - Circus/Carnival
• Altered Art Circus
• Take me to the circus
• Circus fold-out book

"The Lion and the Mouse Fable" in Silhouettes

The Lion and the Mouse

      "A hungry mouse notices a tree full of fruit and attempts to reach the fruit by climbing up a big rock, but to his surprise, the rock is actually a sleeping lion. The angry lion forgives the little mouse and helps him to reach the fruit. The lion laughs at the mouse when he promises to one day return the favor. However, when the lion gets caught in a thicket of vines and the mouse comes to his rescue, the lion realizes that even the small can be a big help."