What They Say At: http://www.snowleopard.org/islt/facts2.html Characteristics With a thick coat to protect them from extreme cold in winter and hair cushions on their feet to help them walk on snow and rocks, snow leopards are well adapted to their mountain environment. Adults weigh between 60 and 120 pounds and measure 39-51 inches from nose to tail. Their fur varies from white to cream to pale yellow or gray, sprinkled with circular, open rosettes of charcoal-gray to black. The tail is the snow leopard's most distinctive feature -- and most useful for maintaining balance. It is thickly furred and, at 31-39 inches, sometimes as long as the leopard's body. Snow leopards are most often seen alone, except during the breeding season, and when females are raising cubs. Mating occurs in late winter and early spring, and two or three cubs are born 90-100 days later, when the wild sheep and goats have given birth and food is at its most plentiful in the mountains. The cubs remain with their mother for more than a year, learning to hunt. They do not reach sexual maturity until at least 2-3 years of age. Communication Snow leopards have several methods for communicating with one another, such as scraping with their hind legs in loose soil. From scent glands located near the tail, snow leopards spray boulders with a pungent liquid. Cheek-rubbing spreads the scent, and helps one leopard to pick up the scent of another. Scent marks can mean "keep out," where individuals wish to identify their ranges. Usually, a male cat's range will include that of one or more females, and sometimes the ranges of more than one male overlap. Scent marks help males and females find each other in the breeding season.

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