in the same place the previous night. 



During the two hours Wilkins spent 

 photographing them from his van, one of 

 the young Uons Icept trying to flip the 

 smaller porcupine so as to reach its 

 unprotected belly. The porcupines, 

 however, always managed to keep a row 

 of quills pointed at the inexperienced 

 lions, no matter which way they circled. 



(An older lion might have been able to 

 distract one so that his partner could flip 

 the other over.) Suddenly, the mother 

 porcupine charged one of the cats, which 

 jumped out of the way to avoid being 

 stabbed. Then the standoff resumed. 



The lions occasionally lost interest and 

 strolled away, but whenever the predators 

 had walked a few yards, the porcupines 



tried to escape across the river bed, and 

 the lions charged back to reengage them. 

 This game continued until midmoming, 

 accompanied by roaring on the part of the 

 lions, and grunting, hissing, and rattling 

 of quills by the porcupines. Finally, with 

 the lions tiring, the porcupines suddenly 

 made a successful break and reached a 

 safe burrow in the dunes. — R. M. 



