Ring Tailed Cat

[Shihiyea]

Someone had recently put up a pic of the ring tailed cat. I've been searching for the pic and can't seem to find it. Can anyone help me out? I want to show this pic to my dad. Mary

[paintninaz]

this one?



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~Tracy

“Friends make the bad times good — and the good times unforgettable.”

[Shihiyea]

yep, thank you!!! Mary

[GTG]

If you want to see one up close here locally, then be at the top of Piestewa Peak at sundown. Sit facing the north and wait. Don't feed them though.

GTG
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Good things come to those who walk.

[mike]

The Flatiron is another good place to see one.
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[Shihiyea]

When I backpacked to the Flatiron, that is where I first saw one. They are such pests, very clever and some what aggressive. They almost remind me of a Gremlin. Mary

[kurthzone]

Hmmmm...., there's nothing like the scene of waking up in the midddle of the night in the bottom of the Grand Canyon and finding GTG in his underwear battling one of these aggressive beasts. Seems the beast had found some treats in the Lawnmower Man's* pack and he wasn't going to surrender.

*This guy was a student at Embry Riddle and did not listen to any instructions regarding taking the treats out of your pack and puting them into the metal boxes that are in the camps for the very purpose of keeping food from the Ringtails. As for the Lawnmower name...... Maybe GTG will tell this story at the Chili Shindig.
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;o)>

[ghoster]

I have a question, are these really felines? I have seen them up close, and they seem to be more of a weasel, or ferret type of animal. Plus don't they usually travel in pairs?

[paintninaz]

Nope they're not felines, they're part of the raccoon family, and are solitary animals...except during mating season.
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~Tracy

“Friends make the bad times good — and the good times unforgettable.”

[Daddee]

No- they are not feline. From what I understand they are most closely related to the raccoon (or in that family anyway).
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- Louis XIV

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- Abraham Lincoln

[RedRoxx44]

One night in the Maze in Canyonlands at Dollhouse 1 car camp I had a visitor who got into my closed up Jeep and into my trash. The noise woke me at 2:00 am in the tent. I opened the door and he/she was so busy in the bag didn't hear me. I just couldn't resist giving that fuzzy stiped tail a pull and jumped back. You would have thought a pinball went off inside the Jeep.
I had to lock up the garbage in the back inside a metal box; I had no trouble after that.
Thats' another hazard of a canvas top Jeep- can't seal it all that well.

[GTG]

I've had numerous run-ins with the wascaly wingtail. The first time was at Bright Angel Campground on my first trip into the Grand Canyon. He was after things people left in their packs. I gave a 'What Critters Will Go After In Your Pack 101' class to my group. Power Bars, toothpaste, gum, etc. all out and into the ammo box. The second time was again at BAC. The Lawn-mower Man was going to surprise us with Mountain House Blueberry Cheesecake after dinner. I had packed a couple of the same along and we had them instead. Lawnmower Man forgot it in his pack and Mr. Ring tail discovered it around 1:00 AM. Mr. Ring tail and I discussed matters and wrangled a few times. I was trying to shake the bag to get him to run but the cheesecake powder was like high grade cocaine to this furry friend. The whole time I wrangled him it was like battling a sock puppet from inside a backpack. I imagined he would leap out and latch onto my face like the ferret does in the TV commercial or jump out like Rikki Tikki Tavi and latch onto me with his "death to Naga" bite. (If you don't get the Rikki Tikki Tavi reference, inquire within.) The third time was down in Tapeats Canyon on our last night there. This little guy came down a crevice that looked un-scalable, more amazing was his ascent. He didn't stick around long enough to wrangle with.
http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/mar/papr/ringt.html
http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/bassastu.htm
http://www.humboldt.net/~tracker/ringtail.htm

Apparently ring tails were used quite extensively by miners to eradicate mice in and around mining areas, thus giving them the old school nickname "miners cat". I wonder how they kept them out of the miner's foodstuffs.
If you sit at the top of Piestewa Peak as it gets dark, you'll see a small pack of six to ten of the little guys come up and scrounge for all the leftover hiker's tidbits from the day. If you stay fairly still and quiet, they'll come right up to you to make sure you don't have a handout.

GTG
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Good things come to those who walk.

[Canyon Dweller]

These guys were all over our packs in the grand canyon seeing if we forgot to put anything away.
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Mountains are there to be climbed!

"Meaningless! Meaningless," says the teacher, "Utterly Meaningless, Everything is meaningless."-Ecclesiastes 1:2

[MikeInFHAZ]

first time i was priviledged to see one was on top of Squaw Peak back in '78. We had just moved to Phoenix and I had no idea what weird creatures roamed these parts.
Im curious to know if they are protected, endangered or otherwise illegal to keep as pets?
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[Daddee]