Here she comes, getting closer and closer. She is almost close enough to reach out and touch. She is beautiful, tall, and muscular. The impala has to be close to her own weight, if not more, and she is effortlessly dragging him towards us. I can now see the muscles on her in use, pulled taut as she holds her head and body upright walking towards us with the impala in her grip. Instinct is kicking in. Do Nothing! Be as still and quiet as possible until she walks on by. The only problem with this plan was that she did not walk on by. She stopped directly in front of me! Wow! I wish I had a better word than wow. For someone like me, this just could not get any better. I also knew that this could be an extremely dangerous situation.

            This leopard laid down and dropped her kill right in front of me. She looked up directly into my eyes. At this point, she pinned her ears back and started hissing and snarling. I could count every tooth in her mouth. I could smell her breath and feel her saliva on my face as she hissed and spit. I am thinking, yup, those “are” large canines. The blood from the impala is covering her cheeks and muzzle. I could not have been more excited! This is the moment that dreams are made of, because at this point, she is only three feet from my face! Let me say this again. She is only three feet from my face. This moment seemed to last forever. She, staring into my eyes and me, staring into her eyes. Her eyes were huge beautiful yellow discs so full of primitive life. If I had thought about it, I could have counted her whiskers she was so close. For a brief time, there was only me, and this leopard. Nothing else existed in the world but the two of us in our own personal dramas.