CHEETAHS

"I did this painting the same time as 'The Chase', using the same palette. I was in a rush so while the oils on one painting were drying, I worked on the other. I have seen a lot of cheetahs in the wild. Well fed, they appear loose and lazy, which I tried to convey here. But on the hunt they radiate intensity. And their speed really is remarkable; it's one of those things in nature that you really can't comprehend until you see it firsthand." Of many interesting characters that Coheleach has met on safari, one of the most fascinating was a sheep rancher whose land was virtually overrun with cheetahs. The rancher did not want to kill the big cats, so he would trap the animals, then transplant them to other areas. "In addition to live-traps, he caught a number of cheetahs by running them with dogs and then roping them. Once the dogs had a cat at bay, he would move in and grab the cheetah's tail while his natives tried to get a noose over its head. The guy was an absolute madman!"