The ringtail is a small mammal with the scientific name Bassariscus astutus. It belongs to the raccoon family, Procyonidae, even though its slim body and pointed face can make it look like a small cat.
Ringtails live across much of Mexico and the southwestern United States. Their range reaches north into Oregon and east into Kansas. They are mostly nocturnal, so this little animal can live close to people without being seen very often.
What Does a Ringtail Look Like?
The ringtail has a slim body covered in buff or beige fur with a darker brown wash across the upper parts. The belly, neck, and inner sides of the legs are lighter. It also has large rounded ears, pale markings around the eyes, and a pointed muzzle that gives its face a fox-like appearance.
An adult can reach about 81 centimeters from the nose to the end of the tail. The tail itself measures about 31 to 44 centimeters, which makes up a large part of the animal's total length.
The ringtail weighs about 824 to 1,338 grams. Its body is small, but the long tail makes the animal look much larger when it is stretched out.
The tail is the feature that gives the ringtail its common name. It is bushy and has alternating black and white rings, while the body itself is not black and white. This is why photographs of a beige or brown animal with a strongly striped tail are still photographs of the same species.
Where Does the Ringtail Live?
Ringtails are native to North America and occur across much of Mexico and the southwestern United States. They use rocky canyons, cliffs, boulder piles, desert vegetation, woodland, and areas close to streams.
Grand Canyon National Park reports ringtails from the canyon rim all the way down to the Colorado River. Rocky terrain gives these animals places to hide, climb, rest, and escape from predators.
A ringtail can also live in wooded areas. In northern parts of its range, habitats with trees and dense vegetation can provide useful cover and den sites.
The Ringtail Is an Excellent Climber
The ringtail is built for climbing. Its long tail works as a counterbalance when it moves along branches, rocks, narrow ledges, and steep canyon walls.
One of its strangest abilities involves its hind feet. A ringtail can rotate its hind feet about 180 degrees, allowing it to move down steep surfaces with its head facing downward.
This ability is useful on rocky terrain where a normal descent would be difficult. The animal can also make quick movements across narrow surfaces while using its tail to maintain balance.
Watching a ringtail climb would be a strange sight. Its body is small, but it moves through difficult terrain with surprising control.
What Does a Ringtail Eat?
The ringtail is an omnivore and eats both animal and plant foods. Its animal prey includes rodents, rabbits, squirrels, insects, birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, and carrion.
Plant foods also appear in its diet. Acorns, fruits, nuts, berries, and nectar can provide food when available.
Because it is nocturnal, much of this feeding happens after sunset. The ringtail moves through its territory looking for small prey and edible plants while avoiding larger predators.
Ringtails have also been recorded taking human food. At Grand Canyon National Park, they have been seen getting into campers' food, open trash cans, and dumpsters during the night.
Life After Dark
The ringtail is mainly active at night. During the day, it rests inside a protected place such as a rock crevice, hollow tree, underground burrow, or even an attic.
Adult ringtails are solitary animals. A female stays with her young, but adults do not normally travel around in large groups.
The animal's nighttime habits also help explain why it is not seen as often as raccoons. A ringtail can spend the daylight hours hidden and only emerge when the area becomes quiet.
Ringtails and Their Young
Breeding takes place from February into May. After mating, the female carries the developing young for about 51 to 54 days before giving birth.
A female gives birth to a litter of 1 to 4 young. A newborn ringtail weighs about 25 grams, which is tiny compared with an adult weighing more than 800 grams.
The young are born with their eyes closed. Their eyes open at about one month of age, and they begin eating solid food at roughly 30 to 40 days.
The female normally has one litter each year. She keeps the young in a protected den while they develop and become more independent.
How Does a Ringtail Defend Itself?
The ringtail is small, so escaping from danger is more useful than fighting a large predator.
Known predators include coyotes, bobcats, and great horned owls. The ringtail's nighttime activity, sharp hearing, climbing ability, and use of rocky hiding places all help it avoid danger.
When threatened, a ringtail can raise its large tail over its back. It can also make a high-pitched scream and release a strong-smelling secretion from its anal glands.
Its climbing ability gives it another way to escape. A predator following from the ground can have difficulty reaching an animal that has moved onto a steep rock face or high branch.
Why Is It Called a Ringtail Cat?
The name “ringtail cat” can be confusing because the animal is not a cat. It is a member of the raccoon family, and its scientific classification places it in the order Carnivora and family Procyonidae.
The word “cat” comes from its slim body, climbing ability, and cat-like movements. The animal has also been called the “miner's cat.”
Miners and settlers kept ringtails around cabins because they could catch rodents. This old relationship with mining camps helped give the animal one of its unusual common names.
The Tail That Gives It Its Name
The long tail is not just an identifying feature. It helps the ringtail balance while climbing and moving across uneven surfaces.
At about 31 to 44 centimeters long, the tail can be almost as long as the animal's body. Its alternating black and white bands are much more noticeable than the colors on the rest of the animal.
The combination is easy to recognize: a small beige or brown body, pale markings around the eyes, a pointed face, and a long black-and-white ringed tail.
A Recent Ringtail Discovery in Idaho
In 2026, researchers published a study about ringtails in southern Idaho. The researchers wanted to find out whether the species had expanded farther north than its better-known range.
They placed 49 baited camera traps in canyon habitats during winter 2023. The cameras recorded ringtails 9 times on 6 different cameras.
The study followed more than 20 years of occasional reports from southern Idaho. The researchers found evidence consistent with a northward range expansion, but they also said that reproduction and year-round persistence still need to be documented.
This makes the Idaho records interesting because the ringtail is normally associated with the warmer and drier parts of western North America.
Is the Ringtail Dangerous?
A ringtail is not a dangerous animal to people. It is small, secretive, and more interested in finding food and avoiding trouble than confronting humans.
It is still a wild animal, so it should not be handled or approached. A frightened ringtail can scream, bite, scratch, and release a strong-smelling defensive secretion.
The best way to see one is from a distance, especially at night when the animal is naturally active.
How Long Does a Ringtail Live?
Ringtails have a relatively short life compared with humans. Animal Diversity Web reports an average wild lifespan of about 7 years, while a captive individual reached 16 years.
Life in the wild is difficult for a small nocturnal mammal. Finding food, avoiding predators, surviving roads, and locating safe den sites all affect its chances of reaching old age.
Why the Ringtail Is So Easy to Recognize
The ringtail does not need bright colors or a huge body to stand out. Its unusual combination of features does the job.
A beige or brown body, large rounded ears, pale eye markings, a pointed muzzle, and a long tail with black and white rings create a very distinctive animal.
Its scientific name is Bassariscus astutus, but the common names “ringtail” and “ring-tailed cat” are the names most people encounter.
Next time you are looking at a photograph, check the tail first. If the animal has the small raccoon-like body and a long series of black and white rings, you are probably looking at a ringtail rather than the completely different ring-tailed lemur from Madagascar.
Source: Animal Diversity Web
Photo source: Wikimedia Commons – Ringtail cat (Bassariscus astutus)
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