When I was in my early twenties I worked part-time on weekends at a pet store called Tammy’s that sold a lot of exotic pets. It was a short walking distance from my apartment. What I didn’t know was the main attraction was a female lion called Tammy. I was told by the owner to go dump a bag of trash at the end of their lot that had an 8 ft wire fence that enclosed the lot. It had a close line that went from the back door to the right-hand corner of the lot. The lot had waist high grass growing in it. As I reached the trash can I was jumped by Tammy she 250 lbs me 180 lbs. No contest and had me pinned to the ground while she liked my face. That’s when I found out she was tame, friendly and like to play with people like a new toy. So I managed to get out from under her where she proceeded to grab me in a hug around my legs where I went down again. Then suddenly Steve the owner came out and scolded Tammy for mauling me even though I was unhurt by her lack of claws and eye teeth. So after that, I would go and wrestle her in the yard and started an attraction for the neighborhood kids. I look back on that experience and laugh now but on that first encounter scared the crap out of me.