Is That What I Think It Is?

Cap and Ely eased up to the gate. It barely hung on the hinges of a rotten post and was held closed by the thinnest of baling wire. It looked like some part of their operation, although it wasn't. This was a neighbor's place and they had a young bull who had somehow managed to get through the mediocre fence. Cap had offered several times to rebuild some of the fence or even split the costs on a new one with the neighbor. You know what they say... and it's true. Neighbors are as good as their fences.



When the report of the trespassing bull came in though, they had to go get him no matter the condition of the fence. Cap and Ely had loaded a couple younger horses in the trailer and headed out. "Ranch Law" states that if something should go smoothly, take only a few minutes and can be done on colts...it will never go smoothly, take longer than you thought, and make you push a colt to the limit.



As they eased through the gate into the neighbor's pasture they were forced to navigate the rusted iron junk piles of what used to be equipment, most of it hidden in tall grass, and pick a place to unload. They chose a spot not far from the neighbor's house since they were gone and awkwardly backed the young horses out of the trailer. After some initial "let's move'em around and make sure they won't buck us off if we ask them to lope" time, they were ready to make a plan. Ely was getting a chew of tobacco as Cap informed him of the plan.

"If you just ease around that side of the house and get that bull started heading toward the corner down there I'll keep him headed straight that direction and make sure he goes to that gate. Once we get him there, I'll open the gate and we'll ease him through. Then we can look for the hole in the fence."

Sounded easy enough. As Ely rode around the other side of the uninhabited house, making sure to pick his way around and through the camouflaged junk iron, he started to notice something you just don't see everyday. A chain link pen. Now, lots of people have chain link pens to keep dogs in and some people even have fancy chain link chicken pens...for whatever reason. This pen was different though and it wasn't until Ely got a little closer that he actually found out why. As he rode a little closer to the pen he noticed a shelter inside of it and out of that shelter walked...a lion.

Ely had seen lions before. His earliest remembrance of them was a school field trip to the Zoo and most recently he had seen just a glimpse of a mountain lion out in Marathon helping some friends pen some cattle. He didn't like them then...and the colt he was riding sure didn't like them now. This was no mountain lion though...this was an African Lion with full mane and all. He stopped breathing, riding and spitting tobacco.

As Cap rounded the other side of the house, he wondered where Ely was. Could he take any longer to do something? He had to be the slowest human alive. As Cap came into Ely's view not only did he see Ely...he also saw the Lion. Cap's colt reacted about the same way... and he couldn't tell if Ely was green from fear or from not spitting that tobacco juice out, but he could tell Ely was not well. They both finally got control of the horses they were riding and moved past the pen to move the bull. Neither one of them ever took their eye off of the pen...and the tenant of the pen kept a pretty sharp eye on them as well.

If you have ever seen two guys move a bull from one pasture to another....you have never seen it done that fast. You have also never seen anyone drive like that out of someone's place without stealing something...

Once they hit the blacktop, Cap and Ely confirmed that they had both seen the same thing. They had. One full grown African Lion complete with mane, caged up right there next to one of their places. They rode home in stunned silence...and wondered if their guns where loaded.


this is a true story from a couple of the Lightning Ranch (Central Texas Division) hands and only the names have been changed to protect the innocent...thanks guys...