How to Greet a Cheetah

It's somewhat more elaborate than you might think. first, our "handlers" at the cheetah sanctuary we visited outside Stellenbosch advised us not to approach these beasts from the front. apparently, they consider this way too threatening, so this is a good thing to know. second, you should stroke them only with a flat hand, and, for God's sake, stay away from the groin area. third, do not reach for their heads. I don't know what the problem is with that, but I considered it sage advice nevertheless. fourth, stay in a crouched position with one knee on the ground so you can jump back fairly quickly should the big guy get a sudden hunger pang.

It appears that while sitting next to a grown cheetah is really quite safe, they can get "boisterous" (their term, not mine). And, you don't want a boisterous cheetah whose claws are maybe 18 inches from your jugular, if you get my drift. In this case, it was Hemingway, a 4 year old male. Hemingway seemed calm enough, but when there's no fence between you and a cheetah, your imagination can become very vivid, if you know what I mean. we learned that cheetahs sleep about 22 hours per day -- the consummate 4 legged couch potato -- but when they want to hunt (which, oddly, is solely a day-time activity for them), they earn their title as fastest animal on the planet.

I'll bet you didn't know that the hair where a cheetah's black spots are of a different consistency than the rest of its coat, giving the black spots a slightly raised appearance to better camouflage them. yeah, it was new to me too.