Sideswipe: November 29: Lions spotted in Whangaparaoa

Lions spotted at Shakespear Regional Park.

Lions spotted at Shakespear Regional Park, Whangaparaoa. "We were staying in our campervan, and during the night, we heard the sound of roaring," writes a reader. "In the morning the grasslands had revealed a dangerous threat ... I think my wife might have had something to do with it."

Why do I wake up right before my alarm goes off?

Your sleep-wake cycle is regulated by a protein called PER, which peaks in the evening and plummets at night. If you follow a diligent sleep routine—waking up the same time every day—your body learns to increase your PER levels in time for your alarm. About an hour before you're supposed to wake up, PER levels rise. To prepare for the stress of waking, your body releases a cocktail of stress hormones, like cortisol. And that's why you wake up before your alarm. Your body hates your alarm clock. So it starts increasing PER and stress hormones earlier in the night. Your body gets a head start so the waking process isn't cut short. It's so precise that your eyelids open minutes—maybe even seconds—before the alarm goes off. (Source: Mental Floss.)

Best reactions to the royal engagement announcement ...

1. A royal wedding before Brexit is like having a living room disco before burning your house to the ground. @AngryScotland

2. Don't care about Prince Harry getting married — but I reckon his stag do should be televised nationally. @SimonNRicketts

3. What's the bet newspapers tomorrow will run with a slew of pictures of Lady Di and Meghan Markle in lookalike outfits? @hackinretirement

"Have you ever heard of caged lamb," asks Roger.

Correction

Yesterday Sideswipe contained a picture of the Muriwai Golf Links deck, which was cordoned off unable to be used by members. A reader complained that the restriction was patronising to the golfers and wrongly pointed the finger at the Auckland Council, along with other inaccuracies. Muriwai Golf Links general manager Andrew Jackson advises that the deck is 45 years old, not 25 years, and 6m off the ground, not 2.4m. "It is in need of major repair, so we have decided to demolish and start again." Sideswipe and the Herald apologise for publishing the misinformation.