Catch a tiger by the toe

She was due for a patrol, and she usually liked to take up the first patrol of the day. She generally wasn't one to sleep in, not when her den often got a little too warm for her sometimes. That, and she liked to try and keep a lookout for her mother's return. She didn't know when she'd come back, but she hoped it would be soon. Taking a deep breath in the light of the dawn, the polar bear made her rounds around the perimeter of the border. She moved at a leisurely pace in the silence. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and birds were just starting to stir in their nests. Despite the morning peace, however, she was unaware of the threat that lurked within the brush just beyond the borders. She walked by, engrossed in thought and had missed the scent of the big, striped cat now lurking behind her. Was it a danger to her? She'd come to find out when the beast burst from its hiding spot with a deafening roar and she felt the weight land squarely on her back.