A Tiger’s Tale
By: VS Grenier
Who has a face like a maze of orange and black? Who is the only wild cat with stripes? Do you give up? A tiger!
No other tiger in the world has markings like me. My name is Sheba and I’m a tiger cub. My life is unlike any cat you’ve known. I may look cute and cuddly like your house cat, but I’m a hunter and I live in the wild.
Let me share some fun facts about tigers with you. There were originally nine types of tigers, but only six can be found today. I’m a Bengal tiger and we live mostly in India. My cousins are the Indochinese tiger, Malayan tiger, Sumatran tiger, Siberian tiger, and the South China tiger.
We are known as masters of disguise. You may think it would be hard to play hide-n-seek with a tiger because we are big and have stripes. But our stripes help us hunt and sneak around our varied habitats. Our prey, such as deer, don’t see things far away very well. To them, our stripes blend together or look like a blur, letting us disappear into the wilderness.
Here is something you may not know about tigers. Many people think cats do not like water, but tigers sure do. We are very good swimmers. As a cub, I love wading into a river or pond to cool off. My brothers and sister like to race across the river near our home.
Speaking of my brothers and sister, one of our favorite things to do is play. We chase and wrestle each other. Of course, Mom is always close by keeping an eye on us and making sure we’re safe. But our life isn’t always fun and games.
A cub’s life is full of learning, too. Our mom shows us things like how to stalk food and pounce on insects. These are important for me to learn. Why? Because when I’m two years old I’ll be living on my own. But don’t worry, I’ll be fully grown. I’ll still keep in touch with other tigers.
I’ll live on what we call a home range. This is an area of the land where I’ll live with other females and one male tiger. This will be my new family.
I think I hear my mom calling. I better go. It was nice to meet you and I hope you can come visit me some time for a nice tasty snack. Bye.
More fun facts about tigers:
· Some tigers live in the grasslands and forests, while others live in subtropical and tropical rainforests.
· Bengal tigers can reach a speed of 35 miles (56 km) an hour.
· Tigers can eat as much as 77 pounds (35 kg) in one meal.
· They can go without eating for up to a week after a good meal.
· Tigers mark their homelands by leaving a smell on plants or by scratching nearby trees with their claws.
· Tiger cubs don’t start hunting with their moms until they are six months old.
· Tigers are very intelligent and among the top hunters in the world.
· Every part of a tiger’s body is finely-tuned to hunt.
· A grown tiger can swim up to five miles (8km).
· The three types of extinct tiger are: the Balinese tiger, the Caspian tiger or Persian tiger, and the Javan tiger.
· White tigers and golden tabby tigers are just some types of tigers with different color variations. They both are part of the Bengal tiger family.