A Nasty Forest Trap

A Wolf Trap

My adopted family love their cattle  so much that whenever one died everyone felt sad. Usually, lions, wolves, and hyenas killed our cattle, camels, horses, and donkeys.

Wolves ate our goats and lambs. We also had dogs and they were just like members of the family that helped my cousins as shepherd. Differently from dogs, we use our cattle for milk and sometimes for meat. To preserve our cattle and keep it growing, instead of eating their meat, my cousins hunted wild animals for meat.

However, our dogs' jobs were to prevent wolves and other wild animals from killing our cattle. One night, a wolf sneaked in and stole and killed our oldest goat and ate her. That old goat was a mother, a grandmother, and a great grand-mother of many of our goats. Our goats and lambs followed her as if she was the mother of them all. She was the leader of the herd. She was the oldest goat that guided and warned them from dangers entering into danger zones. With all the years of experience that old goat had an amazing instinct and sense of direction. Wherever my cousin took the herd for drinking water and grazing, the old goat followed my cousin and the herd followed her.

Nevertheless, no one really knew how the wolf got to her and killed her all the while unnoticed. When we found out that she was missing and was killed by the wolf, It was a nightmare for the family. That night, my cousins and parents were so upset and sad about the death that they couldn't eat. I was crying and didn't sleep until late that night. My cousins were angry and they decided to catch that wolf that ate her. 

So, my cousin started setting traps in the forest to catch the wolf. After long hours of trapping, finally, my cousin had caught that wolf during sunset. Then he brought the wolf back to our village while his foot was still stuck in the trap. He tied the wolf to a post. As wolf stood there tied to the post, our goats and lambs noticed the wolf and they started panicking and looking at it and being wary. Our dogs were barking and were getting ready to attack him.

However, what surprised me was when the wolf saw the cattle, it forget that his leg was into the trap and that he was tied to a post. So, he started making weird happy sounds like "hihi, haha, hihi." he got so excited that he forgot that his foot was in the trap. He was getting ready to start feasting on our cattle, completely oblivious of his plight.

So, as a child when I saw the wolf making happy sounds I thought that the trap didn't hurt his leg. I contrived to steal one of my cousin's trap. I went deep in the forest where no one could see me, then I tried it on my own foot. I already knew how to open the trap because my cousin had taught me how to do it.

There in the forest, I opened the trap and put my foot in it. It suddenly made a quick click and snapped, then abruptly closed on my foot. Its metallic teeth penetrated into my skin, and it hurt so bad, and the pain was so terrible that I screamed so loud that the entire forest echoed my voice away.

Many people heard my scream and my wailing and they came to save me. My cousins and some young people couldn't stop of laughing because they had  never seen a person willingly being caught into a trap just like an animal. That day my stupid cousins couldn't stop laughing at me, and they thought that I was truly stupid. Once again my cousins made fun of me for years to come.

I had learned a great lesson not to play with traps ever again. And still to these days, it will really shocks to see how the wolf in the trap was able to bear the pain and get excited upon setting his sight on our cattle.

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