O is for Ocelot
This beautiful image of an ocelot was taken by Dan Bodenstein on Flikr.
Ocelots are found in South America. They have exquisite coats, that can vary in colour and markings, and each is unique.
They are solitary, like most cats, and only come together to mate, although sometimes cats of the same sex sleep together during the day, when they rest.
Their coats are incredibly good at camouflaging them – and so beautiful that hundreds of thousands of them were once killed for their fur.
They became endangered, but are now in a much better position after protection.
However they are still hunted illegally and poached for their fur and meat in Trinidad, and in all areas they lose numbers because of habitat loss and from being killed by cars.
Here is my ocelot poem for today:
.
Ocelot
.
The way water
ripples sands
and the little stones
on river beds,
arranges the
dark lines
on the coat
of the ocelot,
patterned for
waiting in its
resting tree
until the night.
.
At dusk
its eyes stake claim
in the hunt
for deer or bird,
with the
insistent gaze
of the obligate
carnivore,
.
stalks its web
of territory
with longing
in its lithe
predator’s bones,
.
ocelot,
exquisitely coated,
its red gold and jet
both a protection
and threat.
.
Photo © Dan Bodenstein
Poem © Liz Brownlee
Information from Wiki.
If you would like to blog-hop to the next A-Z Challenge blog, please click here.
If you’d like to read about or buy my book, Animal Magic, full of animal poems and fascinating facts, click here.
- Posted in: A-Z Blog Challenge 2015 ♦ Animals ♦ Poems ♦ Sustainability
- Tagged: animals, beauty, cats, fur, nature, ocelot, photography, poetry, science, sustainability, wildlife
lizbrownlee - poet 
What a gorgeous picture you found for this post! Amazing eyes. Loved your poem. I’m doing a poem a day, also.
Donna Smith
AtoZ Challenge
Mainely Write
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Hello Donna, thank you, will come and see you now!
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Love this poem and captures the plight of this beautiful cat. I love this cat-it is so sleek
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What an incredibly beautiful animal and what a lovely poet you are! So glad you stopped by earlier so I could check you out via A-Z. I write poetry too, so would love to have you check those out post A-Z when you get some time 🙂
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Hello, Shailaja, I will!
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Oh those eyes! Lovely poem too.
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Thank you, Anabel. They are mesmerising aren’t they?
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“Lithe predator’s bones” describes cats beautifully. If I ever have another domestic cat I want one with those markings. Not an ocelot, naturally!
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Thanks, Liz. i know the breed of the cat that has markings similar. They are very beautiful.
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Ocelots are so gorgeous. It is so sad they are threatend. Lovely poem!
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Thank you, Charlotte!
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Ocelots are beautiful. I love your poem; it has a great rhythm.
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Thanks, Ula!
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