Cheryl Neal, age 9 of Utica, New York, for her question:

WHERE DO OCELOTS LIVE?

Ocelots are medium sized animals of the cat family. They live wild in an area ranging from southeastern Arizona and southern Texas to Paraguay in South America.

An ocelot grows to be about four feet long, including his 15 inch tail. He stands about 18 inches high at the shoulder and spends most of his life on the ground. He does, however, hunt in forest trees and is an agile climber.

The ocelot eats mice, wood rats, rabbits snakes, lizards, birds, young deer and monkeys. In the tropics a favorite food is agoutis.

If captured at a young age, the ocelot can be tamed and made into an excellent pet.

The ocelot's fur varies greatly in different animals, from reddish yellow to smoky pearl. Black spots vary in size from dots on the legs and feet to large shell shaped spots on other parts of the body. The ocelot has a pink nose and large, translucent eyes.