the kestrel's nest

Lives of Game Animals, Volume 3. 1927. Written and illustrated by Ernest Thompson Seton.

Interestingly, reverse image search brought up this photo, which appears to be a capture of the exact same moment, just from a different angle: 

Nepalese farmers throw mud at each other in a paddy field in Tau-Daha village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on June 29, 2010. The farmers are celebrating National Paddy Day on ‘Asar 15’ of the Nepali calendar as the annual rice planting season begins. AFP PHOTO/Prakash MATHEMA

Two more photos of continued vibe checking, also from Prakash Mathema [1] [2]

And a personal favourite from 2018 (in Lele village):

Thanks @rackiera for the idea

"It would have been easier if you'd just said yes."

Obvious disclaimer that you shouldn't have wild animals as pets.

But like, cheetahs are the only large cats that keepers will do free contact with. Hell, even most small cats don't get free contact. (Because small cats can be VICIOUS. They'll have a baby pallas cat wearing thicker gloves than when handling an owl. Because small cats can just be vicious.)

Like I think the only other cat at our zoo where I've seen free contact with was servals? Because I know they've used servals in shows to demonstrate their natural jumping ability. But I know servals can sometimes have a mean temper as well. Meanwhile they'll do the cheetah run and afterwards put the mic by the cheetahs and it's just like an engine with them purring. It's fascinating to watch when the message in every other large animal is "no free contact because it's dangerous even when they're born in captivity".

From the Wikipedia page on loons