Nature's Neighbors ~ Ringtail

A Ringtail is a carnivore resembling a small fox with a long flattened tail that is banded with 14 to 16 alternating black and white rings and a black tip.  They have five toes on each foot that are armed with sharp, curved, non-retractable claws.  They are nocturnal, very timid, and rarely seen, and as adults these mammals lead solitary lives, generally coming together only to mate.

Commonly, but incorrectly called Ring-tailed Cat and Miner’s Cat , they are not felines at all, but are members of the Procyonidae family along with raccoons and coatimundis.  They are distributed statewide, but are uncommon in the upper panhandle, the lower Rio Grande Valley and Coastal Plains of southern Texas.  They weigh from 1-2 pounds and are two feet in length (including the tail) and in the wild they will live around 6-9 years.

Ringtail mate in the spring. The gestation period is 45–50 days, during which the male will provide food for the female. There will be on average, 2-4 cubs in a litter, and by the age of four months they are hunting for themselves and are indistinguishable from adults except for their smaller size.  Being omnivorous, they will eat just about anything if it’s the right size. Depending on season, their food choices are fruit, insects, arachnids, lizards, snakes, small mammals, as well as birds and bird eggs.  Ringtail predators include, but are not limited to, Great horned owls, bobcats, and coyotes.

Ringtail are excellent climbers capable of ascending vertical walls, trees, rocky cliffs and even cacti. They have excellent eyesight as well as hearing, both helpful adaptations for a nocturnal animal.  Ringtail live in a variety of habitats within their range, but they have a decided preference for rocky areas such as stone walls and piles, canyon walls, and talus slopes. They can rotate their hind feet 180 degrees, giving them a good grip for descending those same structures.  They occur less commonly in woodland areas where they live in hollow trees and logs, and they are also known to live in buildings. Being such good  climbers, they have little difficulty in searching out and denning in well-protected crevices, crannies, and hollows.  The Ringtail prefers to live in habitats associated with water.

Proving itself an effective mouser, miners and early settlers once kept Ringtail as pets to keep their cabins free of vermin; hence, the incorrect common names mentioned above.  Often a small box with a hole was provided and placed near a heat source as a dark, warm place for the animal to sleep during the day, not to come out until after dark to rid the cabin of mice.