TIGER GODDESSES AND HISTORICAL MYTHS:
- “Budhi Pallien,” a fearsome Goddess from North India, shape-shifts into a tiger and roams the jungle on four paws.
- “Waghai Devi,” another Tiger Goddess, belongs to the Gonds people. They leave offerings for her in the forest and ask her for protection against wild beasts.
- “Goddess Durga,” a Hindu Mother Goddess, rides a tiger while fighting for justice.
- Also in the Hindu tradition, “Goddess Kali” honors the tiger as sacred.
- In Japan, the tiger symbolizes courage.
- While China has many different tiger myths; quite often the tiger represents military might, as it also does in Japan.
- Some Taoists worship the white tiger for protection and to avoid bloodshed.
- Chinese believe “The Year of the Tiger” happens once every twelve years. A person born on such a year will have courageous and powerful personality traits; strongly influenced by the tiger.
In the jungles of Asia, where ferocious tigers roam, nobody is safe. That’s because the striped cats hunt with an almost supernatural ability. Typically they travel alone and stalk their prey silently. A single tiger can sneak up on a grazing animal and stay down-wind, where it will remain undetected.
Most often, the predator will crouch behind tall yellow grass or blend in with other vegetation while watching for the best hunting opportunity. When that moment arises, she bursts forth, previously unnoticed, from one explosive pounce. Her extreme intelligence means the tiger wastes very little time to chase after her food. Although she can run up to 35 miles per hour, a single leap can launch her more than twenty feet forward. Yet, her best hunting asset is her magnificent agility and mental strategy.
A tiger’s night vision is six times greater than a human’s and since most animals can be caught unawares at a watering hole, most tigers start their hunt there; just as the sun goes down. With very sharp teeth, exceptional vision and perfect hearing, the carnivore uses her pointy-hooked-retractable-claws to capture her prey.
How the kill is made depends on the size of the target. Small to medium-sized animals will most likely be killed by a single bite at the base of their skull. {See this video to watch a tiger kill a crocodile: youtube.com/watch?v=D7dazPp20d8). Larger animals, such as a buffalo, will be pulled down by their throats, where the animal most often dies from suffocation. Either way, the tiger’s kill is done with determination and precision.
References:
Excellent Tiger Facts: .andymcdermott.com/tiger_facts.htm
How Tigers hunt - including White Tigers in Zoos (theoretically) natureobservers.com/snowtiger/hunting.htm
Tiger’s diet and eating habits: zooschool.ecsd.net/Tiger.htm
Tigers as man-eaters: lairweb.org.nz/tiger/maneating11.html
Year of the Tiger: c-c-c.org/chineseculture/zodiac/tiger.htm
Tiger mythology: Animal Magick, by D. J. Conway
Tiger mythology: Animal Speak by Ted Andrews.
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