#dwarf leopard

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[cait-illustrate]

Ocelot -- refrenced from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bethkeplinger/6429393123/

Also, wow, hello new friends ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[0bscured-sanity]

Although they could easily rip your face off Ocelot's are adorable

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Little noses... and pawses... I want to kiss them. 

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Ocelot by Truus & Zoo on Flickr.

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Ocelot

  The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), also known as  the dwarf leopard, is a wild cat distributed extensively over South America including the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, Central America, and Mexico. They have been reported as far north as Texas North of Mexico, they are found regularly only in the extreme southern part of Texas, although there are rare sightings in southern Arizona.

The ocelot is similar in appearance to a domestic cat. Its fur resembles that of a clouded leopard or jaguar and was once regarded as particularly valuable. As a result, hundreds of thousands of ocelots were once killed for their fur. The feline was classified a "vulnerable" endangered species from 1972 until 1996, and is now rated "least concern".

  Profile – taken at the Cincinnati Zoo

  Physical characteristics

The ocelot ranges from 68 to 100 centimetres (27 to 39 in) in length, plus 26 to 45 centimeters (10 to 18 in) in tail length, and typically weighs 8 to 18 kilograms (18 to 40 lb), although much larger individuals have occasionally been recorded,[ making it the largest of the generally dainty Leopardus wild cat genus. It has sleek, smooth fur, rounded ears and relatively large front paws. While similar in appearance to the oncilla and margay, which inhabit the same region, the ocelot is larger.

The coat pattern of ocelots can vary, being anything from cream to reddish-brown in color, or sometimes grayish, and marked with black rosettes. In many individuals, some of the spots, especially on the back, blend together to form irregular curved stripes or bands. The fur is short, and paler than the rest of the coat beneath. There are also single white spots, called ocelli, on the backs of the ears. Two black stripes line both sides of the face, and the long tail is banded by black.

As pets

Salvador Dalí and Babou the ocelot

Like many wild cats, ocelots are occasionally kept as pets. Salvador Dalí frequently traveled with his pet ocelot Babou,even bringing it aboard the luxury ocean liner, SS France. Musician Gram Parsons kept an ocelot as a pet in the back yard swimming pool area of his family's Winter Haven, Florida, home during his teens, in the mid-1960s.

The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and often depicted the ocelot in their art.

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