Texas state park rangers went out for a survey last week and spotted a rare nocturnal animal—a ringtail “cat.” (Spoiler alert, it’s not actually a cat.) The rangers didn’t hold back their excitement as they caught the elusive carnivore on film.
In the video, which Palo Duro Canyon State Park posted to Facebook, you hear several rangers talking excitedly as one films a ringtail running through the brush up ahead. The ringtail is hard to spot in the dark, but its eyes reflect the light from the rangers’ flashlights, and at one point you can clearly see the animal’s striped tail.
See a ringtail (and hear Texas rangers react to seeing it) here:
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Ringtails Aren’t Cats
Though often called “ringtail cats” as a nickname, ringtails (Bassariscus astutus) are related to raccoons and aren’t members of the feline family. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, a ringtail is a “cat-sized carnivore resembling a small fox with a long raccoonlike tail.” The name ringtail comes from this animal’s bushy tail, which has alternating black and white rings.
Ringtails live in rocky habitats in the western and southwestern United States, as well as in northern Mexico.
Have you ever spotted a rare animal in the wild?
Header image by Daniel Neal (CC BY 2.0).
