Mammals of the Table Rocks

Ringtail

Bassariscus astutus

Bassariscus astutus ODFW

I like to live in rocky areas like talus slopes or in hollow trees on Table Rocks. I sleep by day, lying on my side, my back (summer), or with my tail wrapped about my curled body (winter). I groom myself upon awakening, scratching with a hind leg, licking my fur, and using my moistened forepaws to clean my ears, cheeks, and nose. I can leap like a squirrel, and my extraordinarily sharp claws permit me to climb walls or trees.

By night, I ambush prey, pouncing and forcing the animal down with my forepaws, then delivering a fatal bite to the neck. My varied diet includes grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, centipedes, and scorpions; snakes, lizards, toads, and frogs; small birds; small mammals such as rats, mice, squirrels, and rabbits, as well as carrion; and fruit such as juniper berries and hackberries.

Young Ringtails are white-haired, fuzzy, and stubby-tailed at birth, but they soon acquire adult coloration and longer tails. We squeak when young, but can bark, scream, and snarl in adulthood. My chief predators are the Bobcat and the Great Horned Owl.

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