📅 Thursday, 21 May 2026 · No. 63

The Biggest Yawn I Have Ever Logged

💤 Behavior Diaries · ✎ 4 min · by Azmi in Meknes

Azmi's note My personal log from Meknes, not vet advice. Just what I did and saw tonight.

Caught it mid-yawn tonight: full lion roar, ears back, mouth wide enough to fit a grape. Then a huge stretch and back to sleep like nothing happened. This post enters the record book: the yawn’s specifications, the all-time leaderboard it now tops, and the stakeout method that caught it. Personal photo log, not behavior advice. Inner lion, outer marshmallow. Diary entry of the week, no contest.

The record: specifications

Time: 19:12, post-flop waking. Duration: 4 seconds wide open (counted on burst frames). Mouth: full gape, grape-capacity certified by visual estimate. Ears: flat back throughout, redeployed forward on close. Follow-through: full-body stretch, front paws extended, 60 seconds, then immediate re-flop like nothing happened. Witnesses: me, silent, camera already up (stakeout discipline pays). Confirmed inner lion: the roar theory holds, the stretch after lasted a full minute, ears doing their own thing throughout. Biggest yawn logged to date and the bar is now impossibly high.

Leaderboard and stakeout method

Previous record: March 3-second gape, no stretch, dethroned tonight
Runner-up: February half-yawn mid-groom, interrupted by own paw, comedy record, stands
Honorable mention: dawn yawn on camera 05:58 (see night-shift reports), small but historic

Yawn facts from my couch, the standing rules: big yawn plus stretch equals relaxed bunny, log it happy. Camera ready at nap o’clock, burst mode on, nap o’clock being 19:00-19:30, the golden window when flops break into stretches. Never wake them for the photo, wait for it, two weeks of waiting preceded tonight, stakeouts nightly, patience the whole technique. Photography notes for fellow waiters (method shared with my mirror-series habit): burst mode, silent shutter, no flash ever, crop later. The flop diary supplies the schedule, yawns follow flops the way applause follows performances. Next record attempt: whenever. The lion sleeps; the camera waits.

Near-misses and the waiting game

Near-misses file, two weeks: half-yawn caught (mouth half, logged partial credit), stretch without yawn (athletic, irrelevant), yawn during camera fumbling (lost to history, mourned). The waiting game rules refined: stakeout starts 18:45 (flop watch), camera up by 19:00, patience till 19:30 hard stop (missed yawns cost nothing; disturbed naps cost trust). Success rate: 1 record in 14 stakeout nights, the math of wildlife photography applied to the living room. Between attempts: normal evenings, no yawning pressure (pressure yawns nobody). Tonight’s triumph retroactively justifies every dull stakeout: the burst frames show all four seconds, ears-back throughout, stretch finale included. The bar sits impossibly high now, challengers welcome, lion willing. Photography’s cheapest subject (asleep, nearby, daily) and hardest moment (four seconds, unannounced). Worth every evening.

Yawn science (household, unserious)

Hypotheses tested: big yawns follow deep flops (confirmed 4 of 5 records), evening beats morning (all records post-18:00), grape-capacity scales with relaxation (unmeasurable, asserted fondly). The stretch-yawn combo as health semaphore: full extension plus gape plus instant re-flop reads as total comfort in my log, noted but never diagnosed; anything off-pattern goes to the vet, not the leaderboard. Comparison with the household human: my yawns earn zero photos and one complaint (contagious, rude). His earn burst frames and a post. Fair? No. Logged? Yes. Next frontier: synchronized yawn (both species, same moment, attempted 6 times, achieved never, pursuit continues). The lion roars silently; the diary roars in print. Record stands; challengers napping.

Record certification and open challenges

Certification board (me, burst frames, ruler): gape verified grape-capacity, duration 4 seconds, stretch 60 seconds, ears back throughout, record ratified, bar set. Previous record holder (March 3-seconder) honorably retired to the leaderboard’s second line. Open challenges posted: synchronized yawn (unclaimed), double-yawn evening (two yawns one night, near-miss logged April, second yawn aborted by phone buzz), yawn-plus-binky combo (theoretical, possibly mythical). Challenger from another house: 5-second claim (unverified, photographic evidence requested, rivalry friendly). The leaderboard lives in the notebook’s back cover, updated in pencil, disputed over tea. Yawn on, lion. The camera keeps its vigil; the diary keeps the book.

Postscript, tonight: stakeout resumed 18:45, flop achieved 19:05, yawn watch active. The record sleeps in the leaderboard; the lion sleeps on the tile. Camera charged, burst ready, diarist patient. Four seconds of glory, whenever he’s ready. The book stays open; the roar stays silent; the wait stays joyful. Yawn science continues nightly.

Stakeout log appendix: fourteen nights, one record, zero regrets. The method’s hidden dividend: fourteen undisturbed flops watched in full, each its own quiet epic. Yawn or no yawn, the evenings paid. Lion or marshmallow, beloved either way. Watch on.

Roar silently, stretch hugely, sleep instantly. The lion’s whole repertoire in four seconds, witnessed, framed, filed. Record stands unchallenged; stakeouts continue regardless. Some nights the yawn never comes and the flop alone suffices. Those nights file under joy too.

Leaderboard locked for the season. Lion out.

Yawn logged; lion certified.

Record stands; stakeouts continue nightly.

Yawn book balanced nightly.

No challenger appeared this week, though one hopeful yawned wide enough to earn an honorable mention in the margins. The lion keeps his crown, the diary keeps its stakeout rota, and I keep watching every flop with hope.

🐰

Written by Azmi

I track my rabbits' diet, weight and naps to see what works. Photos are mine, mess included. Say hi on the contact page.

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