the wandering lion

I was reminded that I should be updating my blog... and for once it wasn't my mother telling me. :) Trying to think of something new or different to write about is always my problem. But I remembered today that I have yet to tell about the lion. Not that I have much to tell. We have a rogue lion wandering around the general area. Not close enough that we have to be worried about it coming on station (i think all the noise the children make would keep it away anyhow) but close enough that it is often the topic of conversation. especially with the children when they are down at the river. I think they are trying to scare each other with the thought of it coming to get them. On Saturday while i was on river duty one of the students asked me what we would do if the lion came. I told them I'd blow the whistle and the last ones to respond would be lion bait! Truthfully I don't have a clue what I'd do, we don't exactly have a "what to do in case of lion attack" on our river rules paper. any suggestions? so far it has not shown any signs of being a man-eater. which is a very comforting thought, especially after watching "The Ghost and the Darkness" a few weeks ago! in fact this lion's taste seems to be only for beef. He has killed several cows (i can't remember the last count) but seems to leave the game farm animals alone. Mr. Pete Fisher has been trying to track/hunt the beast down but it is proving to be rather clever. Last Sunday Pete showed us some pictures of the pawprints he saw and said they measure at least 7 1/2 inches in diameter. This shocked me at first, but then I remembered the size of the paws on the young lions that I walked with and realized that a full grown lions paws would probaby be even bigger.