Shy and solitary ringtails are on the rise in Central Texas
For more than 15 years, Felix Vera has trapped and released numerous opossums and raccoons that have made themselves at home up in attics and under porches in and around Austin and San Antonio. Nowadays, the wildlife removal specialist faces a different kind of gate-crasher: the aptly named ringtail.
“It’s a big spike in activity that’s happened in the last five years,” said Vera, who removes and relocates just about any critter except rats and mice for Texas Rodent Control.
Credit that to expanding development that continues to take over their native turf. The catlike critter has become a familiar sight in the Hill Country.
Not that the ringtail craves the attention. Shy and solitary, this quirky cross between a fox and a raccoon tends to roam alone in the dark of night, its big masked eyes ever on the lookout for that next meal and crawl space to call its own.
“There’s not a whole lot known about them because they are so secretive,” said Michelle Camara, of Southern Wildlife Rehab in San Antonio. “They’re actually kind of a nervous animal. That could be why they’re more secretive.”
Camara has seen that firsthand. One of her many rescued animals is a young ringtail named Finnick, which lost a paw to a rat trap around six months ago and has been in Camara’s care ever since.
Here are a few secrets that have been uncovered about the ringtail.
Its name has a nice ring to it. The ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal that sports a dark brown coat with a foxlike head, white fur around its eyes and a long black-and-white ringed tail. Ringtails average around 2½ feet long — half of that is tail — and weigh around 2 pounds.
Ringtails also are referred to as “ring-tailed cats” or “miner’s cats” for their feline appearance, though they’re actually part of the raccoon family. The “miner’s cat” name comes from when miners and settlers used them to clear rodents from their camps and cabins.
A rock-loving critter of the great Southwest. Ringtails cover most of the southwestern United States and Mexico, including much of Texas except for the the coastal plains, the Houston area and the lower Rio Grande Valley.
Ringtails live in a variety of habitats, including woodland areas and buildings, but prefer rocky desert habitats. They tend to den in rock crevices and tree hollows. Ringtails live up to around seven years in the wild.
Crazy good climbers. Ringtails can climb vertical walls like a fuzzy-faced Spider-Man, thanks to their short claws, super flexible back feet that can rotate 180 degrees and a long tail that helps them keep their balance.
Ringtails also scurry up narrow passages like a rock climber by “stemming,” where they either press all their feet to one side of the wall and their back to the other side, or use their right feet for one side and their left feet for the other.
Nocturnal omnivores. Like most raccoons, ringtails are active mostly at night and eat mostly what’s readily available. That tends to small critters such as mice, rabbits and insects, though ringtails also eat fruits and plants.
Chatty, scatty creatures. Ringtails communicate with barks, clicks, growls and even screams, certainly when humans are around. Camara said her rescue ringtail still “yells” at her, while Vera said the ringtails he’s encountered let out a screechy loud cry as a defense mechanism.
That sure beats their alternative form of communication.
Ringtails also secrete a foulsmelling musk to defend themselves and are known to mark their territory with poop.
Mostly solo acts except during breeding season. Ringtails live solitary lives most of the year, except for mating season in spring. Males then collect food for the pregnant females.
Small families. Ringtails give birth once a year to a litter of one to four cubs. Those cubs open their eyes after a month, then they start hunting on their own after four months.
A star in Arizona and Texas. You don’t see many ringtails in pop culture, but they still capture the public’s eye. In 1986, the ringtail was named state mammal of Arizona.
And in Texas, Lupe is the mascot for Guadalupe Mountains National Park east of El Paso, while Ringo is the mascot for the Texas Stars hockey team in Cedar Park near Austin.