My youngest daughter and I were attempting to sneak quietly down the stairs so as not to wake the mother bear, who was napping in the room, that was first door to the right at the top of the stairs. We whispered in hushed tones and crept past her door as quiet as mice on Christmas Eve.

As we got to the top step, we were stopped dead in our tracks. There, outside the window, that was high above the landing, was a tiger. Quite the majestic tiger no less. Now your average tiger is a powerful feline with orange and black stripes. But the tiger that stopped us on this occasion was nothing so ordinary as that. The site we beheld was the tiger of little girl’s dreams. Pink with purple stripes. No, this was no ordinary tiger.

We looked at each other and said in a hushed voice, “Tiger !” at the same time. We had never seen a pink tiger with purple stripes, as I assume you have not either, but there, crouching behind the swaying branches that had yet to lose their leaves in this early autumn sky, was the majestic huntress. She was lying across the sky, resting after a long day of the hunt. We stood there, at that top stair; staring at the sight before us.

We decided that it was best to capture this tiger quickly. It is not often one runs across such a wonder in nature. We oo’ed and ah’ed at our magnificent catch. Such moments as this, are priceless.

We smiled at each other, and snuck down the stairs. We were all the wiser, and the Mother Bear was still asleep.

If you go hunting in the fall, you might just catch your own tiger. It is best to look to the east in the morning and to the west in the early evening.