You know him, don’t you, the fictional character and official mascot for Frito-Lay’s Cheetos snacks?
Anyone who knows me and our family knows how important these snacks are to my husband. He has a large cup that reads, “Den’s Cheetos” and he even has Cheetos socks. Friends and family see anything Cheeto and get it for Den or they pass on an image, or fact. So we know Chester well.
Chester is a cheetah and cheetahs are amazing animals.
Some facts about cheetahs I’m sure you know, are:
- they are the largest cat on the planet and more social than other cats
- they are the fastest land animal (recorded at 93-98 mph)
- they have a light build, long, thin legs and long tail
Some additional cheetah factoids are:
- females search for prey while males are more sedentary
- they stalk within 200 ft., charge it, trip it during the chase and bite its throat to suffocate it to death
- they are active during the day, especially at dusk and dawn
Why the Chester the cheetah talk, where are you going with this, Deb?
Glad you asked. I see a couple of fascinating similarities between you and me and cheetahs. Really!
According to Quora –
“…(cheetah’s) high speeds can only be maintained for 400-800 meters before exhaustion sets in and the body overheats.”
A cheetah’s entire body design is made to assist his speed:
- he has a supersized set of lungs
- he has a super sized heart
- his nostrils are extremely large to take in Oxygen
- his long tail acts as a rudder for sharp turns and in his pursuit assists with his balance
- he has light bones
- his reflexes are built to survive a tumble at 65 mph (wish I had that!)
- his spine and back muscles are extremely flexible (not mine)
- his claws are semi-retractable with tough pads for traction
Everything within the cheetah is fine tuned to allow for super speeds and yet, even with those design marvels, he still cannot maintain those speeds for very long with out facing exhaustion and overheating.
Additionally, in his sprinting, much of the time he is actually propelled through the air at long strides. One stride for him = 26 feet!
So when he sprints 300 yards, (3 football fields) his paws are actually on the ground for only 3-5 seconds! The rest of the time he is airborne. Plus, he is able to make 4 strides per second. Unreal! Cheetah’s really know how to fly.
Again though, he cannot sustain high speeds or prolonged runs very long. He must catch his prey in 30 seconds or less before he must rest. An example I read said that if a cheetah were to run 154 miles from Otjiwarongo to Windhoek (Namibia), it would need to stop and rest over 311 times. If it were able to run without stopping, it would take only 2 1/2 hours running at 68 mph. Incredible.
How are we like cheetah’s?
Our human design is masterful and yet without proper rest we, too will face exhaustion and heating up. We were made to take our strides here on earth, but our efficiency is when we are airborne, when our strides take us above ground and into the air. (Into the spiritual dimension)
Whether you find yourself in the desert, the grassy savannah (of the Serengeti), or the mountains (of the Sahara), like our cheetah friends, I trust that you will realize your absolute need for rest and your purposeful design to be airborne.
Now, let’s celebrate our cheetah likenesses by enjoying a bag of Cheetos. 🙂
Crunches to you.
Under Debra’s Palm 