Indeed ,a hot sunny day. We have been doing safari from the morning photographing or watching many birds and wildlife.Half of the day has already crossed.It was not a dramatic day, until then.
A Lion was spotted near the acacia tree, in a half-sleep state .Our tiring safari also needed a break.We switched-off our vehicles.The bird chirps were our companion.The life seems to be moving slowly.Occasional breeze would bring some comfort.Few Zebras would cross our paths.
Lion stood up, its gigantic size were petrifying us. It was looking in the direction, somewhere Topi, Thomson Gazelle and Zebras were grazing.The Big Cats have highly developed vision and hearing.Though in the daylight, a Lion's vision may be as good as human eye.
A hunt might be a possibility.Yet, any successful hunt require a planning.The hunter has to find the target with a gullible weakness.An in-experienced prey like a juvenile is an easy target.Not every time it works.To feed a large family, a small-size prey is not sufficient.The predator should look for well-grown adult.
Hunter has to develop the two opposing skills together - patience and swiftness for a successful hunting. A swift-action alone can bring the food.A swift-action need an extra-ordinary patience.A good hunter knows when not to strike.Patience is Virtue.
Lion was focussing the prey base.The ears were constantly-moving , tracking the direction of sound.We were waiting for more than few hours .The Lion would move few yards and would wait for long. The warm day started to end.A gentle breeze was a welcome change for everyone of us.
All along,Lion never lost its attention.It was constantly tracking the grazing gazelles and might have already identified the target.We would never know.The Lion started to walk at a faster pace.The tall grass were blinding us. But we could guess the happenings.The alert antelope were running fast.This time, Lion seems to have succeeded in the hunt. We were watching the stalk-wait-hunt action for close to 4 hours. Still,We don't know how long the Lion was waiting for the right time to act.
Hunt could be an excitement or us, not for the prey or predator. In their world, a hunt is an act of opportunism or a serendipity of the Life.