Pacing...

I remember the first time I ever saw a black panther live and in 'person' at the zoo in Tyler. He was gorgeous - a magnificent creature of the feline species... And he was confined to a cage.

I'll never forget him.

This majestic creature lived in a concrete and metal cage. I don't remember the dimensions, but I do remember thinking that he was probably 6 feet from head to where his tail began, or so it seemed. His cell was about  1-1/2 times his body length - for simplicity's sake, let's say 10 feet. There was an upper deck and a lower deck, both concrete, neither more than 4 feet wide. And this majestic feline, he paced.

His size and stature didn't allow him to turn around in the tiny, enclosed space to which he was confined. Instead, he paced the length of the lower deck; soundlessly leapt to the upper deck and turned; then paced the upper deck. Descending from upper to lower again was not quite so soundless. The pure size and strength of his body landing on the lower deck produced a quiet yet audible "thud" - proportionate to the weight of this beautiful beast. "Thud-thuddd.."

He paced, trapped. I hated seeing him in a cage like that then. And I think I really know how he feels now...


***and we wonder why wild animals consider us the enemy?