Order Carnivora: Carnivores; Family Procyonidae, Ringtails

Ringtails (Bassariscus astutus), also called "Ring-tailed Cats and "Miner's Cats," are house-cat sized predators with a fox-like face, a thin body, and a long, bushy raccoon-like tail with black and white bands that do not meet on the underside. The tip of the tail is black.

Ringtails eat anything that doesn't run faster than they do, but their diet mainly consists of grasshoppers, crickets, mice, birds, frogs, fruit, and similar items. At Phantom Ranch in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, the fig tree is a favored place to feed.

Ringtails tend to live in rocky canyons near water, but they can also be found in dry areas such as dry, rocky hillsides. Ringtail tracks are cat-like, with retractable claws and no heal print (looks like they walk on their toes).

Ringtails socialize to humans fairly rapidly, and these little predators were often kept as working pets by miners during the gold and silver exploration period in Nevada. Miners used their "cats" to keep mice and rats under control in their cabins and mines. Ringtails, however, tend to avoid humans -- I've never seen one in the wild.