Ligers

 

Ligers

Liger

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Ligers result from a mating between a male lion (Panthera leo) and a female tiger (Panthera tigris) They are the largest known cats in the world. They have been recorded since the 1800s, when they were first publicly exhibited.

 Ligers do not occur naturally in the wild, since the habitats of lions and tigers are quite separate and do not overlap. Although there is a small Asian population of lions, they are generally associated with Africa. Tigers are found only in Asia. Therefore, ligers can only occur in captivity, where the two species have been kept together.

It was human curiosity, and an urge to conduct deliberate experiments in controlled breeding, that led to them being mated. The resulting litters produced animals which developed into exceptionally large adults, much larger than either of their parents.

 As with most hybrids, the males, though interested in and capable of copulation, are sterile. Female ligers have the ability to conceive and reproduce viable cubs, but these may be more delicate and prone to congenital defects and other health problems. Tiger mothers often reject their liger cubs. In one well-documented case, in 1824, a terrier bitch was employed to suckle three rejected liger cubs in Thomas Atkins’ travelling menagerie. These were probably the first ligers ever seen in Britain.

Ligers display characteristics of both lions and tigers. They are sociable animals, like lions, whereas tigers are solitary. They enjoy swimming, which is something tigers enjoy. In appearance, they display faint tiger-striped patterning on the tawny background usually associated with lions.

  Cubs produced from a mating between a male tiger and a female lion are called tigons.

Golden syrup

 

Golden syrup

F fromTigger’s Wee-Blog posted her grandmother’s recipe for mouthwatering ginger biscuits. It was the mention of one of the ingredients, golden syrup, that triggered this post.

I read recently that Tate and Lyle were changing the 140-year-old trademark on their classic green and gold tins of golden syrup because some customers had complained that the current one was grim. The illustration shows a cloud of bees buzzing around a dead lion. Underneath are the words, ‘Out of the strong came forth sweetness’. The logo and words are repeated on the red and gold black treacle tin. (Tooth-achingly sweet golden syrup is refined from stronger, slightly bitter black treacle, which is said to be similar to molasses.) It holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest unchanged logo. This year, 2024, it was replaced by a stylised lion’s head and a single bee.

Tate and Lyle’s Golden Syrup became Lyle’s Golden Syrup after the sugar business was sold to American Sugar Refining in 2010. Tate and Lyle continues to trade other commodities.

I remember studying the syrup tin when I was a child, but it never occurred to me that I was seeing something offensive, and even now I see nothing wrong with it. It was based on the story of Samson and the lion in chapter 14 of the Book of Judges. Briefly, Samson killed a lion and later discovered that bees had used the carcase as a hive and produced honey. He then posed a riddle to the Philistines, one of whose daughters he wanted to marry, ‘Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.’

I must remember to keep the empty tin, as a reminder of simpler, less antagonistic times . . . and my childhood.

 My guilty pleasure, but one I rarely indulge, is syrup on hot, buttered toast. 😔 

I like ginger nuts, too.

He's lost his voice

He's lost his voice

This is Gilbert's lion. He enjoys ragging it and it's beginning to look a little the worse for wear . . . 

. . . particularly at the back. 

This morning he was enjoying a good old rough and tumble with it, making it squeak loudly.

The squeaking seemed to increase in volume, which was a little strange, until I looked at Gilbert more closely and saw that lion and squeaker had parted company.

Gilbert looked a little disappointed, though not entirely surprised, when I prised the squeaker from his slavering jaws . . . no, I exaggerate . . . when I took it from his mouth. 

'You spoil all my fun,' he said.

Gilbert does not need assistance from a squeaker to make a noise. He is more than capable of making a lot of noise all by himself.

I cleared up the stuffing that had been generously spread around the sitting room. The lion is not noticeably slimmer and will look much the same as ever after I've repaired him, but, alas, he's lost his voice.

On a different note, I await fine, sunny weather so that Gllbert's toys can be washed and then quickly dried outside. It's one of life's little joys, to see toys hanging on the line.

p.s: Gilbert and his lion were almost the same size when Gilbert came to live with us!

ABC Wednesday - U is for Unicorn

Although I know the Unicorn is a mythical beast, part of me still longs to believe that such a creature exists. Naturally, my Unicorn is a beautiful sleek white horse with flowing mane and tail and a spiral horn. It is proud and free and not to be captured.

Unicorns are mentioned in the King James version of the Bible but it seems that the animal referred to was probably an aurochs which, when seen in profile appears to have a single horn.

The royal Danish throne was reputed to be made of unicorn horns though it is now fairly certain that the horns came from narwhal. Drinking vessels were also made from the horns of unicorns because it was believed that they would neutralise poison.

Unicorns appear in heraldry across Europe. 

The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom depicts a lion and a unicorn. According to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, edited by Iona and Peter Opie, the old nursery rhyme, ‘The lion and the unicorn’, reflects the legendary antagonism between these two creatures ‘in many countries through many ages’ and ‘is mentioned in the earliest English natural history books.’ Traditionally it is believed to refer to the amalgamation of the Royal Arms of Scotland with those of England when James VI of Scotland was crowned James I of England in 1603, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I.  It was alluded to by Lewis Carroll in ‘Through the Looking Glass’.

Previously, the Arms of Scotland portrayed two unicorns but after the union one unicorn was replaced by a lion.

The unicorn has the form of a horse but with cloven hooves, a lion’s tail and a goat’s beard. It wears a crown around its neck attached to a broken golden chain, indicating that it was once restrained but broke free and will not be captured again. The Scottish version of the Arms shows the positions of the lion and the unicorn reversed.

The lion and the unicorn

Were fighting for the crown;

The lion beat the unicorn

All round about the town.

Some gave them white bread,

And some gave them brown;

Some gave them plum cake

And drummed them out of town.


Thanks go to the Unique team of Denise Nesbitt and her Universally Urbane Unit of United hosts. Click here to see more Us.