toecatch
Full Member
Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 51
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Post by toecatch on Feb 1, 2004 10:46:59 GMT -5
Let me start out by telling where I live. I live in North Fort Worth, in a highly suburbanted area. Lots of housing editions have gone in around here in the past five years. My hunting partner, who lives in the same area, called me Friday morning and told me that there was a ringtail run over on one of the main thoroughfares. I went up there, and low and behold, a dead ringtail! This is at least five miles in any direction to ANY open country. There are lots of creeks up here, though. The funny thing about all this is that I have never seen a ringtail in the wild. My dad grew up south of Brownwood, and he used to trap ringtail for extra money. I have hunted down there all my life, and haven't seen any. I think it's pretty neat to see these animals in this kind of populated area. Last fall, I saw five bobcats run over in the same area. Too bad I can't trap those creeks running through the middle of town  That ringtail is a very beatiful animal, only a lot smaller than I imagined, only 3# or so. Thought they got bigger, but my dad told me that is about as big as they get |
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Post by varmint101 on Feb 1, 2004 11:06:21 GMT -5
Alright, I've heard it before, but never seen it. What exactly IS this fabled ringtail eh?
Matt
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Post by Bobcat on Feb 1, 2004 11:10:21 GMT -5
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toecatch
Full Member
Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 51
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Post by toecatch on Feb 1, 2004 11:16:26 GMT -5
They are a small animal, about the size of a half grown housecat. Their tail is twice as long as their body, and has very prominent black and white rings. Body is kinda greyish- red almost like a Grey fox. they have large eyes, and ears kinda like a fox. Feet have retractable claws and look just like a housecat's. They are primarily nocturnal.
Give me your e-mail, and I'll send you a pic of this one. I have very slow dialup, and it would take an hour to upload it from here
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Post by Bobcat on Feb 1, 2004 11:18:36 GMT -5
......just click on the link I posted.......
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Post by Krustyklimber on Feb 1, 2004 16:20:43 GMT -5
Ringtails, miner's cats, or rock coons (as they are also known) are very cool little critters. They definitely have that "God's parts bin" look to them. There is a tower of rock in Yosemite Valley, that has a very famous (or infamous) family of ringtails living on it. On a huge ledge about 2500 feet above the valley floor, where climbers camp on the first night of their two or three day climb, lives about a dozen or so ringtails. Quite tame, but awnry as all get out, devious, and hooked on campfood... especially chocolate. I myself had a late night battle with these lil varmints, over a Toblerone chocolate bar I had traded for a large can of peaches, to another pair of climbers we shared the ledge with that night. I thought I had made a pretty good deal, until the ringtails got half of it, a roll of film, a bag of Jolly Ranchers, and a water bottle... I was luckily able to rappel down and find my film and waterbottle in a bush below, and Jolly Ranchers all down the cliff. A couple have been tossed from the ledge, to their death (I dang near caught the one with his head temporarily stuck in my Chunky soup can, and I woulda tossed him!), but they have lived on that ledge since the first team of climbers sat on it over 30 yrs ago... I have no idea how they could have gotten there in the first place. But I suppose with all the swifts, swallows, and rock wrens that nest in the walls, they have been surviving on birds, eggs, and chicks for the most part. Yosemite's hanging gardens are an incredble place, you'd think you'd be all alone, a half a mile up a cliff. But there is an amazing amount of life up there, both plant and animal. Krusty  |
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Post by varmint101 on Feb 1, 2004 20:56:27 GMT -5
Well now that is a neat looking little critter if I ever did see one! Looks like it's part of 5 different animals put together or something. Like a roadkill collage lol. Cool! and thanks for the link.
Matt
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