I had this stupid silly idea in my head all day and I just couldn't ignore it. It started out with me looking at pictures of gypsy horses and my imagination went from there.

This is Cobalt's first full winter since his permanent transformation into a goat/lion hybrid (previously he had been a full lion). As such, he is only now discovering an embarrassing and furthermore downright cumbersome aspect of his biology.

About a week before the first major snowfall of winter, Cobalt's fur and hair kick into overdrive in order to prep him for harsh frigid conditions. This state of hyper growth sets in quickly, taking only three to five days to reach maximum fur density.

While the fur across his entire body experiences a thickening, fluffing effect, it is most pronounced in the extremities and on his cheeks. In these areas, the fur overcompensates for the cold weather by billowing out at incredible volumes to more than cover his forearms, lower legs, tailtip, and face.

The hair on his head thickens from a smooth silky texture to a coarser blanket-like mane. Because the hair already experiences above-average growth, the onset of winter growth compounds the effect. The follicles will, on average, churn out a foot of hair every two hours for the entire duration of winter. (The picture above shows hair that, from scalp to hooves, took only twelve hours to grow.)

Cobalt's signature beard is an even greater encumbrance during the winter months, growing to twice its average length and thickness. Whenever it is cut, the follicles instinctively increase their function and pump the white chin hairs out at incredible speed--typically at the rate of 2-3 inches per minute. While this is a temporary reaction, its duration is sufficient enough to grow 20 feet of beard before slowing down to its normal wintertime growth rate of one foot per day. Unless the situation demands its removal, Cobalt tries to leave the beard alone, braiding its length each morning and only cutting it off completely when it reaches 30-35 feet. (Whereupon it will immediately grow back to about 20 feet and the cycle goes on.)

The overall effect this extra hair growth has on Cobalt's body is notable. His dietary needs increase to keep up with hair production. And although his body doesn't expend quite so much energy to keep itself warm, that energy is instead spent hauling around the twenty-some extra pounds of hair and fur. Regular shavings are a necessity, though the areas of fur that don't grow extremely fast still return his luxuriant winter coat to full mass within two or three days.

Cobalt's fur can easily protect him in weather as cold as -50 degrees Celcius without requiring any clothing. (He could even withstand -65 degree weather by huddling up in a sheltered spot and completely covering himself with his downy hair.) For convention's sake, as well as to preserve what little dignity he has left, Cobalt insists on wearing clothes even if it causes him at times to be unbearably warm.