For the last two months we have been noticing fresh scat on
the trails of Buckskin. This has led to
lots of speculation as to what animal it might be. After lots of discussion and reading my best
guess is that they are from the Ringtail or also commonly called the Ringtail
Cat. They are not technically cats, but members of the raccoon family. Because they sleep during the day and hunt at
night it is not easy to get a chance to see them. Our trail area is great
habitat for them because the rocky canyon walls are littered with small caves
which make perfect dens for them for their day time occupation. The brown seeds
in the middle of the photo are the beans from the Paloverde tree. They evidently eat pods and all, but the hard
beans do not break down and are passed out. Paloverde trees, which are scrub sized for the
most part, are very numerous in the canyons also, so this all makes sense. Black in the stool is usually caused by
blood, which left me puzzled, what else they are feeding on until one day I
noticed a partially digested lizard in a scat sample. Side-blotched Lizards are probably the most
numerous life form out on the trails. Maybe
TMI, but it’s the kind of thing that occupies my mind while out on the trail.
A good call, Jim, because I actually DO know s*&t! Actually, only enought to compare with similar scat I saw in the backyard of our home in Deer Creek Estates from time to time (but almost every year) for the 20+ years we lived there. Excellent description, however!!
ReplyDeleteBTW, have you seen these 'cats' or are you making an educated guess. I never saw what I guessed as raccoons leaving the scat in our backyard, as with your Ringtail Cat, they are nocturnal. Just Googled your cat, and found it very interesting reading. THANK YOU!!
ReplyDeleteLarry - no, I have not see one. They are known to be in the area. Others have seen them. The scat is not large enough for coyote, which I have seen and usually has a good amount of hair. One of the sources I read said that they are prone to leave their scat in a prominent place, like on a big rock or on a trail. Also, we have an unbelievable number of little pockets or caves out along the trails that would make excelent dens. I'm checking a lot of them with binoculars every time I'm out there hoping to get lucky.
ReplyDeleteThis was totally fascinating and not TMI at all. This kind of stuff occupies my mind on the trail, too. Tracking and scat identification are new skills for me, but I think it will be a nice addition to bird and plant identification. Are there any sandy spots on the trail where you can examine tracks? That would be fascinating.
ReplyDeleteActually, we have a ringtail that lives in our back yard and both I and my neighbor have seen it at night, and we both have seen (and cleaned!) its scat. It always goes in the same place, and it looks exactly like your picture. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete