Cheetah Hunting

Cheetahs hunt small hoofed mamals such as antelope and gazelle. Normally cheetahs will hunt during early morning and late afternoon. The tear lines running from the corner of their eye to the corner of their mouth help block out the bright sunlight. Sometimes cheetahs will climb termite mounds to search the area for food. When a cheetah spots potential prey, she stalks as close as she can towards it and then gives chase. Because the cheetah can accelerate faster than a jet plane, her prey's head start in usually lost. Cheetahs use their tails as rudders, and they can make extremely sharp turns. Thanks to their claws that can never be retracted (pulled in), they have amazing traction on the ground. When a cheetah gets close enough to her prey, she holds on to it with her razor sharp dewclaws. Then she uses her hind legs to trip her prey. When her prey falls, she holds it down and clamps her jaws around its throat, cutting of its air supply. Cheetahs will hold this throat lock for about 10 minutes before their prey suffocates and dies. The reason cheetahs can't give a killing bite to the spine, like lions, if because their aerodynamic skull leave no room for large canines and powerful jaw muscles. While suffocating their prey, cheetahs use the time to get their breath back and rest after their tiring run. Cheetahs are very clean eaters: they never return to their kill and they never eat carrion. Sadly, cheetahs are so streamlined there is no room for much muscle, so when they are challenged for their kill they often lose.