The Lion that almost killed Osa Johnon
As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
Do you remember a few years ago all that terrorism against an American who shot that lion named "cecil" in how he was threatened in the same kind of shortsighted Trump policy of banning fur in the White House and legal trophies out of Africa?
I desire here to feature a life event in two of the first experts in lions in thee American film makers Martin and Osa Johnson.
In Martin's own words:
One can never safely take any chances with these uncertain devils, or relax one's caution for a single instant.
That is not some cecil propaganda like lions are pets. Johnson studied lions and he stated there was never a lion that did not have a sinister look in their eye. As Teddy Roosevelt stated in his observations that a lion when it charges comes with determination and nothing short of death will stop a lion, and death does not come easy to a lion.
Roosevelt witnessed lions shot in the lungs, the head, the body, and the lion still kept coming and often killed the person of interest the attack was aimed at.
That is why the day in Africa which involved Osa and Martin Johnson is particularly worth noting in the retelling of the horror of the event. The Martin's in my estimation took too many chances in filming from their car. They got too close and were lucky when things went wrong as in the time Osa thought it was a good idea to feed the lions, so Martin shot an old zebra and they tied a knot to let the zebra slip when the lion came for it. The problem was the knot did not slip and Martin lost the skin off his thumb as he frantically tried to get rid of that bait, before the lion decided to attack them in the open car.
On the morning in question, they had driven 15 miles in the wilderness, before coming upon a trio of lions, a young male and two females. The last female was pregnant. The simba though darted for cover, and the pregnant female laid down in the grass for cover.
The male was not amused, and reappeared, kept snarling, mock charging, but the Johnson's filmed for some time, until two more lions a big old black maned male and a female appeared from the opposite stage and became the interest of the Martin's for photographing and Osa wanted this male as the last lion she would ever shoot.
So off they went following the lions, who were perplexed at what this beast was, but unlike the young male, this old simba just ambled along without any notice really. They expected the duo to go into a donga, but the male kept on, and they kept following the male. Osa had closed to 100 yards with the car, and this distance is important as Theodore Roosevelt noted in his hunts that a male lion can cover 100 yards in 3 seconds. That is twice a fast as any human, and they can be on a horse at that distance before the horse can come up to full gallop.
As Martin was filming, and their head man was carrying the gun, Osa stopped the car and jumped out with her rifle, ready to bag her lion. Martin immediately sensed something was wrong as the old male just sort of looked over his shoulder at Osa and kept on. In that time Martin had retrieved his 95 Winchester in 405 caliber, and as he stated he was not any expert shot, he yelled at his wife to not get close. Osa though raced on, as both of them really wanted this lion as he was a perfect specimen.
As Osa close to 75 yards, Martin was out of the car and ran ahead. What happened next was a blur of milliseconds as the old male who was not paying any attention in the least, suddenly whirled and he was coming for Osa to kill her.
Where the young male was inexperienced, this old cat had apparently dealt with humans before and had been luring the Johnson's from the female in the donga, and then undertook luring Osa in too close for his attack.
Martin watched as his literally small wife, threw the big rifle to her shoulder in an instant for a snap shot. There was no affect. Osa had either missed for the first time in her life, or the bullet had been one of those rare types that get people killed in misbehaving when all stakes are on the table.
The lion was coming and it flashed through Martin's mind that his wife was about to be hammered as lions do, it would pounce on her, knock her to the ground, with the front claws digging in the back as the fangs sunk into her brain, as they had seen the dead native skulls penetrated by lions for the kill.
All Martin Johnson had was a not very accurate Winchester 95, and he was not the most proficient of shot, but Osa Johnson's time was not yet as the one shot he had at a few yards hit the lion in the brain and the cat slid to within where Osa could touch it.
The husband was weak. Osa was stunned. Then Osa recovered and started yelling at her husband as to why he had shot her lion as this was the last one she would ever shoot.
Maybe Osa Johnson could have pulled off that shot with the fraction of seconds remaining, but as the lion piled up at her feet, a fraction of a second would have had the lion on her in death if her shot had connected in the brain. That still would have been 400 pounds of lion, moving at speed, smacking into her small frame.
The story ends with the pelt being scraped and a local tribesman not speaking Swahili asking Osa, "Mama, digga simba?" which means did she shoot the lion. Still in fury, Osa shouted, "NO, papa digga simba!!!"
The staff laughed a great deal at this, but laughs always appear when it covers the terror of how close anyone comes to being murdered in a most violent manner.
That is what happens with lion experts. Disney has so brainwashed Americans and other city peoples that they have zero idea what a lion is and how real lions are not cartoons, but animals built to kill huge beasts easily, and animals who relish the power of being sadistic in hamstringing animals, pulling them down and the ripping into their guts and eating them as the animal is still alive suffering.
Lion have a fondness for giraffe in killing them. Lions kill and the above story simply shows how wonderfully made they are for killing. An animal this huge, covering 100 yards in 3 seconds, and animal this huge which move silently on the worst dark nights stalking people as zebra are the realities of the African lion.
Nuff Said
agtG
