Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

If this is a real situational photo, why in the world didn't the person taking this picture warm the prone photographer?

Zooman 1

Looks like a tracking collar on the cheetah, still a neat image.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

It might not be staged. I was in South Africa at a resort where they had two cheetahs that were seemingly tame. I petted one as it laid on the veranda of the resort. One of the cheetahs the next day ran after our jeep as we toured the preserve seeking wild animals to photograph. Generally cats kept like this are found in the wild without a parent and brought to a preserve to be raised. The collar the cat wore in the preserve I was at was intended to help let the preserve owners know when the cat strayed onto Kruger park land. They would then have to go and get him. The cats, there was two of them, were both full grown and hunted for their own food. Here is a photo of my friend having a glass of wine right next to one of the cats. This cat did not have a collar as it had never strayed from the preserve.

Bill P

That thing on his neck is a radio tracking device. They're all over africa, and many other places where there are wild animals.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Give that man a Darwin award! He definitely earned it. Of course, he will not be able to accept it in person.

Don't know if it was staged or not; it could just be a tracking collar instead of a shock collar. Cheetah tend to use mankind as a tool more than a meal. They love getting up on the vehicles because that gives them a great higher view of the surrounding area for normal prey. To me, it seens a strange symbiotic relationship.

leftj Loc: Texas

Reeeeaaaalllly! Oh, I would have never guessed it.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

A few years ago, this coyote visited me almost daily for four or five months.



She would come sit next to me and just "hang out" or curl up and take a nap. In the evening when I got home and parked my car, she'd show up in the headlights. I often got a laugh just seeing her feet sticking up from the tall grass, laying on her back, sound asleep. She was playful, too. Once she found a tennis ball, tossed it around herself and catched it. No, she wouldn't "retrieve" if I picked it up and tossed it.

She was young, I'd guess around 1.5 years, and I suspect one of the pups from a family group in the neighborhood (S. San Jose Calif.) She was probably in the process of "moving out" and finding a territory of her own. One day she just stopped showing up. I hope she found a good place to live in the nearby hills. Always worried about her with traffic, around peoples' pets, or if someone got scared by her. She never was the least bit threatening or aggressive toward me. But I never tried to pet her and was careful to not startle or corner her.

Only got out the cameras for a few "portrait sessions" with her. Too good an opportunity to pass up!

Properframe Loc: US Virginia

We sat on 3 six month old leopards in July. The mother, who had been successfully raising young in the prior years even though blind in one eye, was believed to have been killed by a larger predator. We saw them on our day one and two and again checked where they had been left by the mother on day 4. By then they had not eaten for 6 days and were looking lethargic. It was with a sense of sadness taking photos that day and I just happened to look at the shots yesterday. Our guide (Ranger is their term) indicated they would not feed nor intervene in any way and eventually they would likely wander in search of food and be killed. I would like to think your description of saving the orphaned is normal but fear it may be the exception.

And your friend is stifling a Cheshire cat grin is she not !! What a treat.

Properframe Loc: US Virginia

Special treat for you Alan! I like to think you were being repaid for a good deed along the line. Thanks for posting.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I have no doubts that you are probably accurate in this case. But I have seen photos of cheetahs that were not tame at all in what I would consider "too close for comfort" for my taste. I have no doubts that a very hungry cheetah might decide to eat a human, but I haven't really heard of any such stories (doesn't mean they don't exist). But I have heard and seen photos of where a family of cheetahs came up to the vehicles, where the top is open for the photographers to stand up to shoot, and the cheetahs "took over" the vehicles as the highest area for looking for prey. It had to be interesting to have a 300 to 800 mm lens on for taking wildlife photos and having to change out to a standard or macro lens to shoot the cat that close. I mean the tail was dangling through the opening into the vehicle. That is close for a wild animal. And all they seemed interested in was what they could see from the hood and the roof. Like I said, it seems to be a strange symbiotic relationship.

old poet

Yes, a pet!

EyeShootWideOpen Loc: Florida

You all may be pondering the cat dilemma...as for me I am eyeing the lens the photographer has! ;)

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Even if that's a staged image, it's just so very well done.

Bipod

The ancient Egyptians used trained cheetahs for hunting, and occassionally
one is depicted sleeping under a chair in the King's household, instead of
the more usual domesticated cat.

raymondh Loc: Walker, MI