Adventures: Roly-poly lion cubs

No, this post isn't a field dispatch from East Africa. I wish. But for now the North Carolina Zoo will have to do. We visited these (then 8-week-old) lion cubs there last month and fell in love. I spent a lot of my college years studying biology and animal behavior, so watching family groups interact (even just in a zoo setting) makes me nostalgic for a more adventurous time of life. And watching the siblings tussle with each other reminded me that the behaviors—good and "bad”—I see in my own girls are all just a standard and necessary part of development. It amazed me how much the cubs resembled my human children when they played!

Jump! (Next to an incredibly vigilant mama.)

Next time my child bites me, I will remind myself it doesn't hurt as much as it would if my child were a lion.

Family photo.

Cuddling with Mom.

Clockwise: It's so hard to stay awake.

P.S. I've had so much photography work this fall that I've sorely neglected the blog. Hopefully I'll be back more regularly soon to share some of those projects with you. Stay tuned!

Click here for more Adventures posts. Click here for more Nature posts.