When we first started walking around the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and City Park, we couldn’t help but notice something…odd. Every cool, old mansion and large house seemed to have a pair of lions out front.
Big lions, little lions, sleeping, roaring, preening, posing — lions were everywhere. There’s even a dive bar on Colfax for the pride:
It was a little strange to see them everywhere, so of course, we worked on our theories as to why Denver Lions were a thing. Jan was certain that Home Depot had a fire sale at some point, and the neighbors went in to spruce up the neighborhood.
I thought the wear and tear on the lions was a little much, and given modern Denver animal sensibilities, see: broncos, buffaloes, rams; I was sure other choices would be in stock at local garden supply stores.
My theory was confirmation bias: once you started noticing lions, you would start seeing them everywhere. Lions in front of mansions wasn’t unusual, so of course there would be a trillion lions rampant in Denver. Right?
Turns out, I wasn’t that far off. After posting about the vexing number of beasties on Instagram, our super-sleuth friend Pattie found an answer of sorts: Victorian laziness. Back in the day, local Denverites thought lions were the answer to sprucing up their homes. Et voilà! Everyone went with lions.
So now we know & now you know. Lions.
Thank goodness for super sleuthing friends! I do like Jan’s hypothesis about the HD fire sale though. As for decorating, do Felidae relations (such as domestic cats) count? You did note once upon a time that I seem to only adopt cats who match my decor.