Ocelot is a medium-sized animal of the cat family. It is known as the leopard cat or tiger cat of America. It is 3 1/2 to 4 feet long including the tail, which is 15 inches long. The ocelot stands 16 to 18 inches high at the shoulder. The ocelot lives in an area ranging from southeastern Arizona and southern Texas to Paraguay in South America. It spends most of its life on the ground, but often hunts in forest trees and is an agile climber. It eats mice, wood rats, rabbits, snakes, lizards, birds, young deer, and monkeys. In the tropics a favorite food is agoutis. If taken young, the ocelot can be tamed and makes an excellent pet.
The ground tint of the ocelot fur varies greatly in different animals, from reddish-yellow to smoky-pearl. Black spots vary in size from dots of 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.
Ocelots have been widely hunted for their fur, and their number has decreased sharply. Laws that prohibit the hunting of ocelots have been hard to enforce.
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