This image is about fur. The high Himalayas are, next to Antarctica, the coldest and most forbidding environment in the world, even in the summertime. This means that the snow leopard must have a coat that will keep it warm in all seasons. It is both dense and quite long. The blotchy pattern is perfect camouflage on the barren, jumbled rock slopes of its home. The long tail not only aids in balancing and bounding across treacherous terrain, it is also useful as a sort of warm muff when curling up for a nap. I enjoyed sorting out the confusion of pattern and anatomy in this bundle of fur. Just as every square inch of nature is particular, every bit of the surface of this animal is particular to the relation between the fur and the physiology. - Robert Bateman