Britton Hayes was on a photo safari at the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania during spring break. The group stopped to watch three cheetah brothers. Then this happened.
"One of the cheetahs hopped onto the hood and was sniffing around, so we were all focused on the cheetah on the hood that was looking around," said Hayes. "While we were all watching the cheetah in the front, one of the brothers had flanked around the back and hopped in back of the vehicle to try and sniff us and make sure that we weren't a threat."
Hayes credits his guide for helping him through the ordeal."Alex (my guide) kept me calm and made sure I never made eye contact nor startled the cheetah," Hayes said, "allowing the animal to see that it could trust us."
Peter Heistein caught the brief scene on video. Notice the cheetah looking right into the camera and licking his lips in the still frame above. Hayes didn't tell his mother, KOMO news anchor Elisa Jaffe, until he got home. -via Laughing Squid