I’m sure that many of you will recall the fictional “Cheshire Cat” in the “Alice and Wonderland” adventures made popular by Lewis Carroll and later, by Walt Disney Productions.  Naturally, that particular cat became very popular in the world of fiction and film production.

However, there are a number of other cats just as mysterious and odd as that perpetual smiling “Cheshire Cat.”

The Chihuahuan Desert plays host to a variety of magnificent animals including various cats.  There is naturally; the “puma” or, mountain lion, the “bobcat,” and the misunderstood “polecat” or…skunk.  Some of these animals are true cats, however…others are not.

One of the rarest of these “cats” is the mysterious “ring-tail” which inhabits most of Texas including the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Franklin Mountain area of El Paso, Texas.  Despite the variety of animal life in this dry and arid region, most El Pasoan’s have never heard, or much less ever seen…the “ring-tailed cat.”  

The “ring-tailed cat” is also sometimes referred to as a “miner’s cat” and at times mistakenly called a “civet cat.”  In actuality, the “ring-tailed cat” (Bassariscus astutus) is not a cat at all, but a small carnivorous mammal related more closely with the raccoon family.  The animal resembles a small fox with a long bushy raccoon type ringed tail.

The tail is almost as long as the animal’s entire body.  In addition, the animal’s tail is banded with 14 to 16 alternating black and white rings, and the tip of the animal’s tail is always black. 

The “ring-tailed” has five (5) toes on each foot, and is armed with long curved (non- retracting) claws used for climbing, and digging.  The body fur is usually dark brown and shadowed with dark grays and black. The small little face is highlighted by distinctive white areas above and below the eyes.  In fact, the animals face reminds me somewhat of a coatimundi and or, perhaps… even a chinchilla. Normally, this unique animal prefers rocky areas and can climb vertical rock walls with relative ease.

This mysterious little animal is almost totally nocturnal by nature and that is one of the main reasons you may never see one in the wild.  They hunt by night and their diet usually consists of small nesting birds, lizards, mice, squirrels, frogs, spiders, scorpions, and… grasshoppers.

Don’t let the barren outcrops and scared faces of the Franklin Mountains deceive you.  The Franklin Mountains are teaming with life on any given day or, night. However, the sleeping schedules of man and animal are usually reversed and perhaps…that’s a good thing!

I have been lucky enough to have seen “ring-tailed cat” on three occasions.  I saw a “ring-tail” in the Guadalupe Mountains region one dark evening in late September.  The second occasion was on Scenic Drive in the Franklin Mountains as it scurried across the highway and up into the protective rocks that paralleled the dangerous  highway. The third sighting was also on Scenic Drive.  Sadly, that “Ringtail” had not been as lucky in outrunning the oncoming traffic as that of its predecessor.

by Joseph Calamia, former Zoo Volunteer

Photos
1. Wyscan, Wikimedia Commons
2. Ring-tailed cat trail camera image by John Kiseda
3. Wyscan, Wikimedia Commons
4. Diana-Terry Hibbitts