Cheetah!
by Ajit Huilgol
Cheetahs are far more difficult to find than people think. They are so small built that if they lie down even in grass that is about 8" tall, they can be completely invisible. Only the occasional twitch of its tail or the sound of your vehicle making it lift its head up, will betray its presence. So, once you see one, you better make the most of the opportunity! This one was a family of two, a mother and her 12-14 month old male cub. They had probably just fed and had moved off to rest in a shady spot. You can see the blood-soaked whiskers on this female.
Species: Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
Location: Ndutu, Tanzania
Date: May, 2011
Equip: Canon 7D, Canon 500 f4 lens
Specs: ISO 400, f7.1, 1/400s, beanbag on vehicle, Av mode, Centre-weighted, 0 exp comp
Thank you for taking the time out to look, and for your comments/critiques
Comments
11 commentsI consider myself exceptionally lucky with the one encounter we did have (not least of all because it involved a Rhino no less!), but the only reason it was spotted (pleased forgive the pun!) was that it was drinking from a small pool of water that had collected on a relatively large expanse of flat rock that was situated close to the road.
Real happy that you had your own wonderful encounter Ajit and came back with such a captivating shot. Hope to see more if you have them :^)
Sandy
I agree with Vincent on the slight halo, easy to correct...and I also agree with you on how hard it is to find them if the grass is long! I've spent 3 trips looking for them in a smallish national park where they were re-introduced and even though there are a lot of them I've yet to find them in those plains of consistently long grass
Jagdeep Rajput