Camping Inside A Cheetah Enclosure - Big Cats Snuggle Cuddle Purr Groom And Sleep With Friend

First thing I do is introduce myself to the cheetahs here. Over here behind me. Just chilling out amongst themselves. What I'm going to do is come over here and join me. Keep me warm. It's freaking cold at night. It's winter here in South Africa. So let's go meet the cheetahs. Here's my purr. My best purr. I've already worked him up actually. There's three here. These are the two. That's Hunter on the left and Neo on the right. So I just let him groom my head. So that I'm friendly and not foe. That does hurt. I keep rotating. Ow. That hurts. I'm taking his scalp off. It's worse than Indians. Wow. That's double the damage. That's enough. That hurts. Look at my hand. That really hurts. So just let him know that I'm here. I'm friendly. These guys love to groom. They'll groom my hair of course. But my scalp there hurts bad. All that nice thick fur. There's a third one over there but she's not as friendly. You can see her in the corner there. Peering away behind the shadows there. But she follows these guys' leads. These girls' leads. What they do, she does. But she doesn't like me. They don't matter. Because she doesn't want to be left alone. So Juno will join us if these two do. So I'm trying to get these guys to come over. One thing you don't do is make a cheetah do anything. You don't even ask them to do anything really. They do what they want. Unless you want to get swatted or scratched. Or bitten. This is Juno eight months earlier. Juno used to like me when she was a cub. Time and separation have made us distant. I didn't spend a lot of time with her. And I doubt she remembered me. But I used to babysit her and her sister, Evita. She used to snuggle with me and fall asleep in my arms. You can see her eyes and face twitch as she dreams. This is my first encounter with her eight months later. Curious but very suspicious. She gets spooked and bares her teeth. A little bit bitey. This is my first time meeting her. So I don't know what to expect. I wanted to point out Juno. Because unlike most cheetahs that were born here and hand raised by humans. She has trust issues. Lowering her profile is a very non-aggressive thing to do. That's why if I was standing up she wouldn't do this. She's helping test my submission posturing theory. Juno avoids me when I'm standing or walking around. I'm very curious to see how she reacts. You'll see her join me last when we camp out tonight. It's a cold morning. She's smelling me. There she is. And what I notice when they groom each other they don't purr. So they place their human keepers and volunteers a step above. See that purring? I'm going to brave this pain again. Watch this. I'll stick my face in here. I'll scalp the other side this time. Watch it start purring. You hear that? They only purr when they groom me. That hurts. Because they place humans a step above their relations. I'm like a cheetah above a cheetah. That hurts. I can't think of more than that. That hurts. You hear purring? See that? When they groom each other they don't purr. Because they see us humans as almost like a mother figure. Eyes are closed. My scalp survived that. It's all wet and sore. There they go. They can't see me going over here. I'm just over here. 20 feet away. So now I go to bed. Open air camping is the only way to go inside a cheetah enclosure. Within a few minutes the first ones show up. As usual Neo shows up first. Purring, snuggling, and smothering you. But always the face. Now that hurts. My voice spooked her. It was the same every night I spent with them. Neo first, then Hunter, and finally Juno. I let her groom my hands. I don't trust her with my face. Because she's nipped me before. This is Neo. Another cheetah that love bites too hard. Just like any house cat, they have to find that perfect soft spot. In comes Juno. As I mentioned, she follows the lead of the other two. She gets past her trust issues with me laying vulnerable flat on my back. Allowing a cheetah to groom you is a big step in trust for both of you. Juno is even purring while grooming. Three cheetahs. Three of them. To snuggle, cuddle, purr, and groom like they did is cute, but it serves a higher purpose. It was winter time and below freezing when I spent nights with these cheetahs inside their enclosure. It takes energy to maintain your body's temperature. When you snuggle with friends, you're sharing body warmth. It's an innate survival technique that many animals share. A cheetah's body temperature is a few degrees above a human's. So, it was me that got the most benefit out of it. But, I didn't do it to survive. I did it for the wonderful experience. Spending my nights inside a cheetah enclosure would be cold, boring, and lonely if the cheetahs didn't enjoy my company as well. If you like this video, please share it and give a thumbs up. And consider joining my channel. Join my coalition and subscribe.