Description:
The ringtail is about the size of a house cat. The ring-tail is named for its long, bushy tail that has black and white “rings”. The tail is as long as its body and has 8 black and 8 white alternating stripes. The face is grayish, with white circles around the large dark eyes. The ears are large compared to the rest of its body. The body is yellowish brown and the belly is whitish. The legs are fairly short. Ringtails weigh about 1 kg. and the males are somewhat larger than females.

Geographic Range:
Ringtail can be found all over the Southwest: pretty much all of New Mexico New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas and throughout Mexico. They can also be found in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Utah, as well as near to the Mississippi River in Lousiana and Arkansas. It can also be found in the mountainous foothills of California all the way into Oregon.

Habitat:
Ringtails live in both grassy and wooded areas. They are almost always close to rocky areas, like cliffs and canyons, and are usually near water. They are usually found below 1800 m elevation.

Food Web:
Ringtails are omnivorous (plant and meat eaters.. They feed on fruits and berries, birds , small mammals , snakes and lizards, frogs, a variety of insects, spiders and scorpions, and carrion . The diet changes every season. The eat more insects during summer and fall and more rodents in winter and spring.

Reproduction and Development:
The den is usually built in a hole in a rock, but where holes are not available, ringtails will build their dens in tree cavities and even abandoned buildings. The nest is made of a few leaves, or none at all. Females are ready to breed in the spring. The length of that the baby is within the womb is not known, but it is estimated at 45 to 50 days. Ringtail cats have 1 to 5 young at a time (averaging 2 to 4). The young are born blind and helpless, with short whitish hair. The eyes open when they are 30 days old. Males bring food to the young after about three weeks. The young begin to look for food with their parents when they are about 2 months old and they are weaned at about 4 months. When they are weaned look exactly like the adults, except for their size. A Ringtail lived for 8 years in captivity.

Behavior:
Ringtails are nocturnal (function at night) and are hardly ever seen. They spend the day in the den and come out at night to find food. They are move and climb well in their rocky habitats. Ringtails can be very social and outgoing animals.

Ringtails can give a sharp bark, a piercing scream, and a long, high-pitched call.

Ecosystem Roles:
Ringtails are both herbivores and lower-level carnivores .

Conservation:
Ringtails are probably reasonably common, but are rarely seen, because they are very shy creatures.

Cool Facts:

• Ringtails have partially retractable claws.
  
• Ringtails can rotate their front and hind paws to use chimney-climbing techniques to climb narrow crevices.
  
• Early settlers kept ringtails to control rodents around their homes.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Bassariscus
Species: Bassariscus astutus

References:
Burt, William Henry; and Richard Philip Grossenheider. 1976. A Field Guide to the Mammals, 3rd ed. (Peterson Field Guide Series; no. 5). Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 289 p., 47 plates

Cockrum, E. Lendell; and Yar Petryszyn. 1992. Mammals of the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. Tucson: Treasure Chest Publications, 192 p.

Findley, James S. 1987. The Natural History of New Mexican Mammals. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 164 p.

Findley, James S.; Arthur H. Harris; Don E. Wilson; and Clyde Jones. 1975. Mammals of New Mexico. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 360 p.

Related Terms: ringtail, cacomistle, cat-squirrel, california mink, cacomixtle