Anyone that's worked closely with leopards - and jaguars for that matter - know that they can be very aggressive and in-your-face sort of cats. Not much subtlety with leopards. They let you have, chopped at both ends, blunt, brash, abrasive, in no uncertain terms. That's just leopards. It's in their blood. :) But even so, they still have some very gentle, serene moments.

Mariah was a movie cat, who retired to the sunny land of Florida in 2002. Some of her movie credits were: The Isle of Dr Moreau (the new version with Marlon Brandau and Val Kilmer) and the Michael Jackson music videos from a few years back that had all the leopard work in them.

Mariah, while a bit feisty at times, has her more "adorable" moments - dare I use that word with a leopard - that proves that a cat is a cat is a cat. They all so very much love to find that perfect spot where sunlight is streaming through in pools of light, and then flip over and orient that entire underside at just the perfect angle for optimal ray-gathering. After all, every cat has built-in solar panels on their undersides, don'cha know? :)

So this is Lady Mariah, laying peaceful, absorbing some afternoon sunlight. She's got a beautiful face and eyes, I've always thought.

This picture was taken 27-Jun-03. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 10D and the EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM lens. The original was taken at full frame of 3072x2048x24b, ISO eqv 400, 1/350 shutter, f/4. This image was shrunken down for space conservation.

Disclaimer: I hate to have to put this on here, but the pic is copyright me. Please do not distribute, copy, alter, etc, without my permission. Having said all that, feel free to download and use it for your own inspiration.