Tiger cubs grow very fast. They have to, in order to survive in the wild. In just under a year's time, the two cubs living in the den underneath a large tree, deep in the forests of Nepal, were quickly reaching full size. Families often stayed together for a long time, until the younger ones are ready to go off hunting and establish a territory of their own.
But until then, it was mostly fun and games!
The adult tigress always kept a close eye on her two offspring, for it was her motherly instinct of course. Every few days she would go off on the hunt, and her two young ones would come with her to learn the art of stalk and dine. She would find a suitable prey, and attempt to stalk it with the cubs close by. Unfortunately, the noise the cubs made was often heard by the prey and it was able to make an escape. If only animals could talk, one could probably hear the mother scolding her children for making it difficult to get dinner!
But the cubs learned quickly, and began stalking quietly alongside their mother. In a few more months, the cubs will be almost fully grown, and can start hunting on their own... with mom in close supervision of course. She does after all want to make sure they don't try to take down a fully grown elephant or bear, since it'll be some time before she can have another litter!
The two cubs, brother and sister, learn to work as a pair, which is actually quite rare in the solitary tiger world. They quickly learn tactics such as having one cub lie in wait, while the other drives the prey towards the ambush. These tactics don't always work, as the cubs sometimes pick targets that are much more than they can handle. That's why mother is always nearby, supervising, watching, and knows when she needs to dart in to make the kill. She always lets her children eat first, however, giving them a gentle nudge to tell them it's okay that they eat first. The cubs always purr with excitment on every hunt, successful or not, for it's a very enjoyable pastime, and you can only play hide and seek with your sibling so much before it wears out its fun.
Until one day, as the three tigers were resting beneath the boughs of the tree where they made their home, a crackling noise was heard in the forest...
