As I watched my hand paint the image of Pharaoh on the canvas, it seemed to me that the story that would go with this painting should be special. I was thinking of his life at PrideRock Wildlife Refuge, and the things that Gary and Carol Holliman, the owners of the refuge, had told me about him. When they first got Pharaoh, he was only four months old. He had had several human owners and had been abused. 

They told me about the special relationship that developed between one of the volunteers at the refuge and Pharaoh. I contacted this volunteer and asked her if she would write a story about Pharaoh. This person, is one of those special people on this earth. Her name is Betty Webb and she wrote this story.  

“My Time with Pharaoh 

Through the woods and across the creek, as the crow flies, the city zoo was less than a mile from our back yard.  During the warm months, the windows at home were kept open to catch a breeze.  As welcome as the breath of cool air was, it was the sounds the breeze carried that stirred my imagination and caused dreams to grow.  The song of the lions as they called to one another increased my fascination with every roar.   

One day as I was walking through the zoo on my way home from school, I saw a caretaker leading a small lion cub on a leash.  His name was Pasha.  He was beautiful.  The lady let me pet him and walk with them as she told me all about her days with him.  Then she showed me how she gave him a baby bottle of milk and even let me ‘help  her’ hold the bottle for a while.  Oh, how my dreams grew after that day. I wished I could see the lions running free in Africa.  But if not, I wished for a way to help them like the caretaker I had met.  Later that same year I got to meet a tiger cub.  Thus my love for all things feline was etched deeply in my heart.  I knew that someday, somehow, they would be a part of my life. 

It took almost forty years for that ‘someday’ to arrive.  I became a volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary that rescued abandoned or abused exotic cats. For many years I was given the opportunity to help raise young cubs and learn how to take care of large cats.  It bothered me that they could never live in the wild as they were meant to.  But if they had to stay in captivity, I was glad I got to help care for them.  I wanted to give them the best life I could. 

Then in July of 2003, after I had retired, I learned of PrideRock Wildlife Refuge owned by Gary and Carol Holliman.  They needed help with routine chores.  Knowing they had a policy of no contact with their cats, I told them I would come once a week to clean the pens and help care for the cats if I would be allowed to raise the next cub they rescued.  They agreed. 

On November 6, 2003, Gary told me to clean an empty pen that was never used.  I asked, “how clean do you want it?”  He replied, “Clean enough for you to live in for a few weeks.”  Then he left to go to town.  A few hours later he returned, hollered for me to meet him at the empty pen and pointed to a small carrier.  “This is for you”. 

From that carrier emerged a skinny, scared little lion cub approximately four months old. Gary and Carol both tried to give him a bottle, without success.  They said he had attitude.   He had huge ears and black scars on his face from ringworm.  He was rather pathetic looking. But I saw what I knew he could become, a king, and he needed a kingly name.  So it was decided to call him Pharaoh.  Within a few hours he calmed down and I was able to give him a bottle and some food. Then he curled up in a corner of the cage and went to sleep.  He had already had three owners in his brief life, but I promised this would be his forever home. 

Now I had a baby lion that I could raise by myself, using all the knowledge I had gathered over the years.  I had learned the best way to be safe with a large cat was to become like a piece of furniture in their world.  He had to learn I belonged in his home, too.  For the next few weeks I just sat in his cage.  Sometimes he would want to play or chew on my jacket and shoes; sometimes he would sleep or ignore me.  He finally accepted me as his and would crawl up on my lap and fall asleep while sucking my thumb.  That is when I knew the bond would never be broken. That is when I fell in love with him. 

Of course, all feline cubs like to tumble, wrestle and bite just like a litter of kittens.  He had to learn that he could not play with me the same way he would a littermate.  Cats do not like the smell or taste of vinegar, so I used a small spray bottle of vinegar to discourage unacceptable behavior with humans.  In the beginning he got sprayed a lot.  But he soon learned, and all I had to do after that was show him the bottle and  say “no”. 

Pharaoh was a favorite of all who came to the sanctuary.   We took him into the adjacent playground  so he could explore his new home and get exercise.  When he got excited he would run with a silly bounce and  shake his head. We called it his dance.  He kept us all laughing.  As he became stronger he loved to climb up on a huge boulder where he had a good view of the other cats at the sanctuary.  

 We gave him lots of toys to experiment with.  One of his favorite games was batting.  I would throw a ball or empty plastic jug to him and he would bat it back to me.  He had perfect aim and never missed.  He also liked to play with an old tire that hung on a chain from the roof of his cage.  He would hop up and crawl through it until he got so large he got stuck one day!  Most of all he loved his belly rubs, and would flop over at my feet whenever he wanted one.  While I was off cleaning in another area he would often stand at the door of his cage and call to me to come play with him.  The only time he ever showed any aggression was at feeding time.  He let us know he would not share his food! 

Milestones in his life seemed to go by too quickly.  He lost his baby teeth and grew his huge fangs.  Cubs vocalize with moans and  barks.  His first attempts at a roar sounded like a hoarse frog.  It took many months to find his adult voice.  His mane started to come in so I began a routine of brushing him so it wouldn’t get matted.  When he was two years old he had outgrown his small pen and was moved into a larger cage.  I asked Gary to put in a low table so I could sit with him.  He still wanted to crawl onto my lap but had to settle for sitting beside me while he sucked my thumb. He liked his larger home and I could tell he was starting to feel all grown up.  After the move, I gave him a huge 50-gallon drum I thought he would have fun rolling around his cage.  No way!  He managed to pick it up in his mouth and run along the fence line, making an enormous racket as he went.  I think he was trying to impress the two lionesses next door.  

For three years I spent every moment I could with Pharaoh.  He always did his silly dance as he ran to greet me.  Those were the happiest years of my life. There is a spiritual connection when trust grows between a person and a wild animal that cannot be explained, but must be lived.  I never felt any fear of him - and still don’t. 

Then, due to concerns about liability, Gary informed me I could no longer go into the cage with Pharaoh.  I was heartbroken!   Pharaoh was three and a half years old.  He never understood why our relationship suddenly changed.  He would  still stand at his door and call out to me.  After a few months he gave up. 

I could not abandon him, so I have continued to work at the sanctuary.  Pharaoh is still very affectionate and will come to greet me when I arrive.  He will rub his face against the fence and stand where I can reach in and give him a hug. I will always love him. 

Pharaoh is now eight and a half years old, at the peak of his life, and has grown into the most beautiful and majestic lion I’ve ever known.  He has made friends with the two lionesses that live next door and they keep each other company.  He is happy and safe and very much loved at PrideRock.”

If you would like to send Betty a message or comment, send it to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I will forward it on to her. 

PS, both of the cataracts in my eyes have now been fixed, and I can see very well now. I have been using this down time since last November, while my eyes were being worked on, to develop a new web site, www.artandtales.com. It is not yet finished, and probably will remain a work in progress until I croak, however you might enjoy visiting it.