Things You'll Need:
- A black leather whip.
- A Small round back chair.
- Knee high black leather boots.
- A large hoop.
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Step 1
Preparation. Before getting into a cage with one of the big cats, it's best to get some practice in a less dangerous environment. Small dogs are an excellent way to start.
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Step 2
Mastering the whip and chair. Before putting your life at risk make sure you have complete command of the whip and chair. You should be able to place the tip of the whip within an inch of your target and produce a loud crack with a snap of your wrist. Take a stance with your knees slightly bent, grip the back of the chair and hold it in front of your chest with the legs pointed away from you. From this "ready" position practice "cracking" the whip.
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Step 3
Hoop preparation. Set up a large hoop inside the empty cage.
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Step 4
Entering the cage. Your first step into the cage will find you in your most vulnerable condition. Be sure to leave the door slightly ajar. Establish control quickly by snapping the whip smartly and shouting some variation of "here" or "heo". If the lion has started toward the door, this will generally cause him to retreat back to his stand.
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Step 5
Taming the lion. Once you've established control, approach the lion with the chair in front of you (as practiced in step 2) and your whip at the ready. Gesture toward the hoop with the chair while snapping the whip. If all goes well, the lion will jump through the hoop, and you will have accomplished your objective. A few additional cracks of the whip should be sufficient to get the lion back on the stand.
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Step 6
Exiting the cage. With your whip and chair still in position, slowly back out of the cage. You've tamed the lion, but don't celebrate just yet. Keep your wits about you until you've exited the cage and the cage door is securely shut. Then, and only then, respond the thundering applause - you've earned it.
Comments
jerryfriend15 said
on 11/27/2008 westsiiide,
I think you were thinking of either dolphins or velociraptors. Lions have actually been proven to be pretty stupid. Just check out scottos article and you will see what i mean. they are real easy trick and goof off with
bigwood177 said
on 11/14/2008 Hi Westsiiide,
Thanks for reading my article, and for your insightfull comment. Permit me to make the following comparison: dog intelligence is to lion intelligence as school smart is to street smart.
My primary consideration for including that first step was safety. Had I written the article a year ago, I would have probably said: "pull on your boots, grab your whip, step into the cage and see what happens". But I almost lost a good friend who did just that. With almost no experience, he tried to stick his head into a lion's mouth. As a result he's going to have to learn to cope as best he can with a prosthetic head.
westsiiide said
on 11/12/2008 nice presentation. taming a lion never seemed so possible. however, i doubt small dogs possess a similar level of intelligence - how do you compensate for that while training?
bigwood177 said
on 10/29/2008 jerryfriend15 - Thanks for your thoughtfull comment. I believe that all animals should be treated with dignity. In some ways Lions are smarter than we are, and deserve our respect.
jerryfriend15 said
on 10/27/2008 really good article. a good expression for step 6 is "keep your head on a swivel". also what experience do you have in lion taming?