Young farmer in death wrestle with cheetah
I kid you not. This is a true tale - happened a few weeks ago on a neighbour's farm. It started like this (I wish I had pictures because some of the pictures in my head are hilarious!)
Neighbours - let's call them VdM's - were having tea on the stoep, when they saw and heard the workers' women come running over the hill, screaming and cursing. Behind them came the herd of goats, also running like hell, but not as fast as the women. Right behind, at a lope, came a large cheetah.
The young man E, just starting to farm, ran to grab a rifle and called his dog, a bull terrier/Staffordshire cross. The dog was of course already on high alert. E took aim, fired, and the cheetah dropped. He walked closer with his dog, who was very excited about 'his kill'. However, as he grabbed hold of some skin in his teeth, the cheetah, who had only been stunned by a shot against his ear, reacted. He bit back.
The two started rolling on the ground, growling and kicking up dust and sand in a fierce battle for supremacy, making it impossible for E to fire.
Realizing that his dog was likely to lose, since the cheetah by now had the dog's head in its mouth, E took action. He ran closer, grabbed the cheetah's jaws and tried to force them apart.
Now I should tell you that E is not a huge man. He was always called klein E (small E) at primary school with my sons. He was a laatlammetjie (last child). Significantly, his best sport at school was wrestling. As a grown man, he still stands at about 5ft 4inches, and is sturdy but not massive.
So here's E with the cheetah's mouth stretched open and the dog's head released. Now what? If he let's go he'll be killed. As it was, the cheetah got in a couple of bites through his hand. In a final surge, he managed to turn teh animal's angry head to one side and tried to get a grip on its throat. Nothing much happened. They were tussling and struggling and E was starting to tire. Then, as the animal tried to throw its body around to get back at him, he managed to get his leg in between the cheetah's hind legs. He now had a grip.
He choked it to death.
For any of you who say, "Ah, the poor animal!", I agree. I am very fond of cheetahs and they rarely cause trouble for us. But when one starts chasing your employees and their herds around, what do you do? They can claim an unsafe environment and demand recompense unless you remove the danger. Probably (more likely) the guy's hunting instinct just kicked in. Can you believe?
Years ago, we had several incidents with rabid animals - kudus, jackals and occasionally cattle. One Sunday afternoon we were also entertaining guests and the small kids were playing out at back. They came to complain that there was a jackal who was not afraid of them and came into the yard. We realised the animal was probably rabid and told them to call if they saw it again. Our son Etienne, who was at that stage very competitive in archery, took his bow and a couple of hunting arrows and decided to follow the jackal. He saw it and took aim, but the animal didn't stop. Just trotted right up to him, too close to shoot. Deciding this was a different kettle of fish, Etienne scooted off home.
I was making coffee. As I walked down the passage from the kitchen to the stoep, carrying a tray of coffee mugs, I saw the jackal coming my way in the passage! He'd walked right past the people on the stoep without their noticing. I squeeked something and dodged into a doorway to allow it to pass. Jan came to see what was wrong and immediately realised we had to corner the animal. He opened our bedroom door and the animal went inside. We immadeiately slammed the door shut.
Now we all wanted to see this, so we went around outside to the bedroom window. There was this animal, ripping down the curtains, slashing bedding to bits with its teeth. I tapped on the window and it leaped straight at me, gnawing uselessly at the glass, it's anemic gums clearly visible, leaving toxic trails of saliva across windows and bedding, the animal went crazy. Eventually we got a hold of a couple of weapons, like a machete, pistol, and knife, and formed a row. Holding a blanket infront of me, my task was to open the door and 'encourage' the animal out in the opposite direction where the others were waiting. The machete got him. Tests confirmed advanced rabies. Children and guests were excited and bedroom was treated to a scrubbing down and replacement of bedding.
Such, unfortunately, is much of the contact between humans and predators who are themselves constantly under threat from humans. So hard to choose when you're in that spot, isn't it?
I kid you not. This is a true tale - happened a few weeks ago on a neighbour's farm. It started like this (I wish I had pictures because some of the pictures in my head are hilarious!)
Neighbours - let's call them VdM's - were having tea on the stoep, when they saw and heard the workers' women come running over the hill, screaming and cursing. Behind them came the herd of goats, also running like hell, but not as fast as the women. Right behind, at a lope, came a large cheetah.
The young man E, just starting to farm, ran to grab a rifle and called his dog, a bull terrier/Staffordshire cross. The dog was of course already on high alert. E took aim, fired, and the cheetah dropped. He walked closer with his dog, who was very excited about 'his kill'. However, as he grabbed hold of some skin in his teeth, the cheetah, who had only been stunned by a shot against his ear, reacted. He bit back.
The two started rolling on the ground, growling and kicking up dust and sand in a fierce battle for supremacy, making it impossible for E to fire.
 |
| this picture borrowed fom Getaway |
Realizing that his dog was likely to lose, since the cheetah by now had the dog's head in its mouth, E took action. He ran closer, grabbed the cheetah's jaws and tried to force them apart.
Now I should tell you that E is not a huge man. He was always called klein E (small E) at primary school with my sons. He was a laatlammetjie (last child). Significantly, his best sport at school was wrestling. As a grown man, he still stands at about 5ft 4inches, and is sturdy but not massive.
So here's E with the cheetah's mouth stretched open and the dog's head released. Now what? If he let's go he'll be killed. As it was, the cheetah got in a couple of bites through his hand. In a final surge, he managed to turn teh animal's angry head to one side and tried to get a grip on its throat. Nothing much happened. They were tussling and struggling and E was starting to tire. Then, as the animal tried to throw its body around to get back at him, he managed to get his leg in between the cheetah's hind legs. He now had a grip.
He choked it to death.
For any of you who say, "Ah, the poor animal!", I agree. I am very fond of cheetahs and they rarely cause trouble for us. But when one starts chasing your employees and their herds around, what do you do? They can claim an unsafe environment and demand recompense unless you remove the danger. Probably (more likely) the guy's hunting instinct just kicked in. Can you believe?
Years ago, we had several incidents with rabid animals - kudus, jackals and occasionally cattle. One Sunday afternoon we were also entertaining guests and the small kids were playing out at back. They came to complain that there was a jackal who was not afraid of them and came into the yard. We realised the animal was probably rabid and told them to call if they saw it again. Our son Etienne, who was at that stage very competitive in archery, took his bow and a couple of hunting arrows and decided to follow the jackal. He saw it and took aim, but the animal didn't stop. Just trotted right up to him, too close to shoot. Deciding this was a different kettle of fish, Etienne scooted off home.
 |
| Jackal scavenging |
I was making coffee. As I walked down the passage from the kitchen to the stoep, carrying a tray of coffee mugs, I saw the jackal coming my way in the passage! He'd walked right past the people on the stoep without their noticing. I squeeked something and dodged into a doorway to allow it to pass. Jan came to see what was wrong and immediately realised we had to corner the animal. He opened our bedroom door and the animal went inside. We immadeiately slammed the door shut.
Now we all wanted to see this, so we went around outside to the bedroom window. There was this animal, ripping down the curtains, slashing bedding to bits with its teeth. I tapped on the window and it leaped straight at me, gnawing uselessly at the glass, it's anemic gums clearly visible, leaving toxic trails of saliva across windows and bedding, the animal went crazy. Eventually we got a hold of a couple of weapons, like a machete, pistol, and knife, and formed a row. Holding a blanket infront of me, my task was to open the door and 'encourage' the animal out in the opposite direction where the others were waiting. The machete got him. Tests confirmed advanced rabies. Children and guests were excited and bedroom was treated to a scrubbing down and replacement of bedding.
Such, unfortunately, is much of the contact between humans and predators who are themselves constantly under threat from humans. So hard to choose when you're in that spot, isn't it?
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