Mike Piccolo, age 8, of Spokane, Washington, for his question:

Why do leopards have spots?

Leopards live in bright sunny lands, among the shady trees. They do not like to attract attention and would just as soon nobody noticed them. The best way to do this is to wear something that blends in with the scenery. In this case, the scenery among the trees is speckled with patches of bright golden sunshine    and spotted with dark leafy shadows. Since the leopard wears a light yellowish coat all dotted with dark spots, you might pass close by and not notice him.

The leopard has two good reasons for wishing to hide himself. During the afternoon he hates to be disturbed while he takes a nap. When dinner time comes around, he hopes to catch a deer. But if the deer sees a leopard on the prowl he takes off. However, because the leopard's spotted coat blends in with the scenery, usually he can sneak up on his victim    close enough to pounce.