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Amazing story! Awesome!
When I was in the second grade, we lived (served) on a small island on the Amur River. China is closer than Khabarovsk, you can see it through a telescope. Frost stood, God forbid, around the forest, on strong ice, across the river, Ussuri tigers came to our unit. You could watch from the balcony at night how they rummage through garbage cans in search of food. Father, then still a senior lieutenant, flew on guard “every other day on a belt”, and funny things often happened there. From a remote post, a call from a frightened sentry, a Kazakh, if memory serves:
- Drag the senior lieutenant, this one is here! The tiger stands...
- Who? Tiger? Well, if he starts to attack, immediately shoot! - said the father, never mind that the tiger is listed in the Red Book, the life of a fighter is more important. - We'll be right there!
— So it is! He has been sitting outside the post for 20 minutes and does nothing, just looks and that's it! But it's scary. - The poor Kazakh has never seen such big cats in his life ...
The father called the right person, informed the command, took the shift and jumped into the car - for a while he was there. And exactly! The tiger sits so peacefully, does not twitch. More precisely, a tigress, and looks. They played peepers, and then the father noticed something flickering between the trees in the distance. Crap! Tiger cubs!!! And the beast doesn't move...
- Comrade senior lieutenant! a demobilized sergeant from the locals called out. - There was nothing to eat in the forest, she brought the cubs to give ...
Why the hell do we need them? the father was surprised. Contacted the command again.
On that day, the major remained behind the regiment commander - the chief of food, a surprisingly wise and calm person. The major listened to all this and became thoughtful ... Taking tigers - then problems, it will be necessary to contact the Khabarovsk zoo, send a car to equip, that's it! No, it doesn't roll. You can’t shoot a tigress either - the need has led, and it’s a pity for the animal. But she won’t leave on her own, so she will die there with the cubs.
- That's what Lieutenant, let's you rudders to me, to the warehouse, I'll be waiting ...
In the warehouse, the major rummaged around for a while, thought, and handed my father a half-frozen cow carcass:
- Hold it, take it and throw it to the tigress. Just look, God forbid what, be careful ....
Easy to say, but how to do it? The carcass is heavy horror, the snow is deep. Together with the sergeant, throwing machine guns behind his back, the father dragged the carcass to the tigress, strictly instructing the Kazakh on the tower to keep an eye on both and shoot if something happens ...
The tigress sits not moving, only her eyes are huge, yellow, glaring (morgue, morgue. They dragged the meat to her and moved away ... The tigress rose sedately, sniffed what they brought, easily with her teeth Tsap! And into the forest ...
Everyone rested calmly...
A day later, my father is on guard again. He goes to check the posts, the night, the stars are shining, how good it is! I looked at this splendor and decided to smoke. A teal with a match and almost lost consciousness - in the darkness near the fence the same tigress sits ... And looks ... Father froze. “It’s too close, I won’t even have time to get a gun,” he thinks.
... And the tigress stood up, silently and quickly approached him, carefully looked into his eyes ...
- Well, that's it, here it is death ... - Dad thought.
... looked in, then poked her muzzle under the arm, well, just like a cat at our house, rubbed against her leg. She caressed her with her tail and disappeared just as silently ... Father still remembers this, although it was a long time ago.
And I am still sure that there is animal gratitude, and that it is better than human!