On Wed, 9 Apr 1997 Michael L Bourgoin wrote in the FML:
 
>We've been noticing something peculiar about our little fuzzie's mask.  In
>the winter time it takes on the shape of a V.  As springtime approaches it
>fills out to a "Lone Ranger" look.
 
Errata Stigmata's mask does this, too.  In winter, she's close to a show
standard for Siamese or point, with her chocolate-brown legs, tail, and
V-mask and creamy white body.  In summer, she has a dark hood rather than a
mask, and the dark of her haunches creeps over her body so she looks like
she's wearing sweat-pants.
 
What's strange to me is that her colors seem to change, too; and not only
season-to-season, but year-to-year.  Last summer her mask/hood was
blackish-brown; now it's a medium cinnamon (I remember because I color-match
her to objects in the house); her first winter, her body guard hairs were
light cinnamon and this past winter they were as creamy white as her
undercoat.  She also gets that whiskey-yellow hue at the beginning of
seasonal changes.
 
Her only color/pattern constants are her white mitts, the two black dots on
one forepaw that are partly responsible for her last name (the red dots that
would mysteriously appear on our hands when she was a feisty kit also
contributing to the moniker), the dark brown harlequin spots under her eyes,
and her white bib bordered in black and brown.
 
Black Francine, on the other hand, just gets blacker or somewhat less
black.
 
-- Lee
[Posted in FML issue 1897]