Dangerous Day Job

I went to the zoo today and saw some cheetahs, three of them. They were bigger than I expected. Their heads are pretty close in size to a human head, and they were at least five or six feet from nose to tail, with legs more like a large dog’s than what you see on a house cat. One of them was pacing the enclosure in a well-worn track around the perimeter of the cage, its whole body streamlined into tight muscle and a coarse coat. They were so obviously built for speed, but the enclosure was pitiful. I couldn’t help but wonder how long it takes a cat like that to lose the ability to run if it sits in an enclosure without much exercise. Apparently they only live eight to ten years in the first place, so I don’t think they’d ever end up slower than their cousins thanks to a sedentary lifestyle alone. Running fast is all they have evolved to do after all. But there they were, lazing around in a space I could cover the length of in seconds flat. It was almost surreal to see an animal that can run at highway speeds contained in such a small space. Wouldn’t you just lose your mind, knowing you could run that fast but never being able to prove it?

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley