THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
minutes, nor was the distance traversed more than a mile. When the 
horse was almost upon them, these cheetahs suddenly squatted flat on the 
ground and allowed the horse to pass close to them without moving. 
They made no attempt to charge, and did not even growl, but, once 
overtaken, lay perfectly still until they were shot. I have never heard of a 
cheetah, either wounded or unwounded, showing fight, and when their 
diet and mode of life is considered, their docility and gentleness of 
disposition is truly remarkable. If captured as kittens and brought up by 
hand or by a canine foster mother, cheetahs become extraordinarily tame, 
and do not turn savage or in any way dangerous even when full-grown. 
When stroked and fondled, they purr with pleasure just like domestic 
cats, only more loudly. 
Though single cheetahs are sometimes encountered, they usually live in 
pairs or in families. On several occasions I have met with four together, 
and on one occasion six. In this party there was one big male, but all the 
others looked the same size, and were apparently full-grown. Possibly 
they were two old females, with three nearly full-grown cubs. As I have 
seen a male cheetah accompanied by two full-grown females, I imagine 
that these animals are not strictly monogamous. From two to four cubs 
are born at a birth, the usual number being three. They are blind at birth, 
with long fluffy hair of a greyish colour, covered with small indistinct 
spots. As they grow older their coat gets shorter, and becomes of a general 
pale yellow, dotted with round black spots. The tail is long and fluffy, and 
on the neck and throat the hair grows so long as to form a ruff. 
As a rule, cheetahs probably prey upon the small or medium-sized 
antelopes, but I have known them to kill a full-grown sassaby, and 
instances are on record of cheetahs killing such large and powerful animals 
as male waterbucks and koodoos. Such cases are, however, probably 
exceptional. After having killed, they disembowel their prey, but in a 
rough-and-ready manner, in strong contrast to the neat and cleanly 
methods of lions and leopards. They sometimes lie up close to the carcass 
of an animal they have killed, probably in order to keep off vultures, but 
will usually, after having eaten their fill, at once leave it and never return. 
There is little sport, if any, to be got out of shooting cheetahs, as no danger 
is to be attached to their pursuit. A hard gallop after one is, however, 
exciting and exhilarating while it lasts. No special rifle is required for 
cheetahs, as they are not very tenacious of life, and can easily be killed with 
any small bore expanding form of bullet. 
218 
