Ring-tailed Cat

The ringtail is a mammal of the raccoon family, native to arid regions of North America. It is also known as the ringtail cat, ring-tailed cat or miner's cat, and is also sometimes mistakenly called a "civet cat" (similar, though unrelated, cat-like omnivores of Asia and Africa). The ringtail is sometimes called a cacomistle, though this term seems to be more often used to refer to Bassariscus sumichrasti.

Physical description

The ringtail is buff to dark brown in color with white underparts and a flashy black and white striped tail which is longer than the rest of its body. The eyes are large and purple, each surrounded by a patch of light fur. It is smaller than a housecat, measuring 30–42 cm long with a tail of 31–44 cm and weighing 0.8–1.5 kg. Ringtails have occasionally been hunted for their pelts, but the fur is not especially valuable.

Range and habitat

The ringtail is found in California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, Utah and throughout northern and central Mexico. Its distribution overlaps that of B. sumichrasti in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz. It is found in rocky, desert habitat, where it nests in the hollows of trees or abandoned wooden structures. The ringtail is the state mammal of Arizona. It is also found in the Great Basin Desert. The Great Basin desert covers most of Nevada and over half of Utah, as well as parts of California, Idaho, and Oregon.

Agility

The ankle joint is flexible and able to rotate over 180 degrees, a trait helping make it an agile climber. Their considerable tail provides balance for negotiating narrow ledges and limbs, even allowing them to reverse directions by performing a cartwheel. Ringtails also can ascend narrow passages by stemming (pressing all feet on one wall and their back against the other or pressing both right feet on one wall and both left feet on the other), and wider cracks or openings by ricocheting between the walls.

Habits

It is nocturnal, solitary, timid, and rarely seen. It is omnivorous, eating fruits, berries, insects, lizards, small rodents, and birds. Owls, foxes, coyotes, raccoons and bobcats will prey upon ringtails. These small omnivores produce a variety of sounds, including clicks and chatters reminiscent of raccoons. A typical call is a very loud, plaintive bark. As adults, these mammals lead solitary lives, generally coming together only to mate.

Reproduction

Ringtails mate in the spring. The gestation period is 45–50 days, during which the male will procure food for the female. There will be 2-4 cubs in a litter. The cubs open their eyes after a month, and will hunt for themselves after four months. They reach sexual maturity at ten months. The ringtail's lifespan in the wild is about seven years.

Domestication

The ringtail is said to be easily tamed, and can make an affectionate pet and effective mouser. Miners and settlers once kept pet ringtails to keep their cabins free of vermin; hence, the common name of "miner's cat" (though in fact the ringtail is no more cat than it is civet). Often a hole was cut in a small box and placed near a heat source (perhaps a stove) as a dark, warm place for the animal to sleep during the day, coming out after dark to rid the cabin of mice.

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Raccoon Pet Care

The raccoon, sometimes spelled as racoon, and also known as the common raccoon, North American raccoon, northern raccoon and colloquially as coon, is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. As a result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, raccoons are now also distributed across the European mainland, the Caucasus region and Japan. Their original habitats are deciduous and mixed forests, but due to their adaptability they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes, and even urban areas, where some homeowners consider them pests.

With a body length of 41 to 72 cm (16.1–28.0 in) and a weight of 3.6 to 9.0 kg (7.9–19.8 lb), the raccoon is the largest procyonid. The dense underfur, which insulates against cold weather, accounts for almost 90% of the raccoon's grayish coat. Two of its most distinctive features are its extremely dexterous front paws and its facial mask, which are also themes in the mythology of several Native American tribes. Raccoons are also noted for their intelligence; studies have shown that they are able to remember the solution to tasks up to three years later. Raccoons are omnivorous and usually nocturnal; their diet consists of about 40% invertebrates, 33% plant foods and 27% vertebrates. Captive raccoons sometimes douse their food before eating it, which is most likely a vacuum activity imitating foraging at shores.

Though previously thought to be solitary, there is now evidence that raccoons engage in gender-specific social behaviors. Related females often share a common area, while unrelated males live together in groups of up to four animals to maintain their positions against foreign males during the mating season and other potential invaders. Home range sizes vary anywhere from 0.03 km² (0.01 sq mi or 7.4 acres) for females in cities to 49.5 km² (19.1 sq mi) for males in prairies. After a gestation period of about 65 days, two to five young are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersion in late fall. Although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years, their average life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. Hunting and traffic accidents are the two most common causes of death in many areas.

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Kinkajou or Honey Bear

The kinkajou , also known as the honey bear (a name it shares with the sun bear), is a rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to the olingo, ringtail, cacomistle, raccoon, and coati. It is the only member of the genus Potos. Kinkajous may be mistaken for ferrets or monkeys, but are not related. Native to Central America and South America, this arboreal mammal is not an endangered species, though it is seldom seen by people because of its strict nocturnal habits. However, they are hunted for the illegal pet trade, for their fur (to make wallets and horse saddles) and for their meat.

Size and appearance

An average adult kinkajou weighs 2–3 kg (4–7 lb). Average adult body length is 40–60 cm (16–24 in); in addition to body length, average tail length is 40–55 cm (16–22 in). The kinkajou's woolly fur consists of an outer coat of gold (or brownish-gray) overlapping a gray undercoat. It also has short legs with sharp claws.

Diet

Although the kinkajou is classified in the order Carnivora and has sharp teeth, its omnivorous diet consists mainly of fruit. Kinkajous particularly enjoy figs. Studies have shown that 90% of their diet consists of (primarily ripe) fruit; they may play an important role in seed dispersal. Leaves and flowers make up much of the other 10% of their diet. They sometimes eat insects, particularly ants. It has been suggested, without direct evidence, that they may occasionally eat bird eggs and small vertebrates. Their frugivorous habits are actually convergent with those of (diurnal) spider monkeys.

The kinkajou's slender five-inch extrudable tongue helps the animal to obtain fruit and to lick nectar from flowers, so that it sometimes acts as a pollinator. (Nectar is also sometimes obtained by eating entire flowers.) Although captive specimens will avidly eat honey (hence the name "honey bear"), honey has not yet been observed in the diet of wild kinkajous.

Phylogeny

Olingos are similar to kinkajous in morphology and habits. However, genetic studies have shown that the kinkajous were an early offshoot of the ancestral procyonid line and are not closely related to any of the other extant procyonids. The similarities between kinkajous and olingos are thus an example of parallel evolution; the closest relatives of the olingos are actually the coatis. The kinkajou is distinguished from the olingo by its prehensile tail, its foreshortened muzzle, its extrudable tongue, and its lack of anal scent glands. The only other carnivoran with a prehensile tail is the binturong of Southeast Asia.

Kinkajous evolved in Central America and invaded the formerly isolated continent of South America several million years ago, as part of the Great American Interchange, when formation of the Isthmus of Panama made it possible to do so.

Behavior

Like raccoons, kinkajous' remarkable manipulatory abilities rival those of primates. The kinkajou has a short-haired, fully prehensile tail (like some New World monkeys), which it uses as a "fifth hand" in climbing. It does not use its tail for grasping food. Scent glands near the mouth, on the throat, and on the belly allow kinkajous to mark their territory and their travel routes. Kinkajous sleep in family units and groom one another. While they are usually solitary when foraging, they occasionally forage in small groups, and sometimes associate with olingos.

A nocturnal animal, the kinkajou's peak activity is usually between about 7:00 PM and midnight, and again an hour before dawn. During daylight hours, kinkajous sleep in tree hollows or in shaded tangles of leaves, avoiding direct sunlight.

Kinkajous breed throughout the year, giving birth to one or occasionally two small babies after a gestation period of 112 to 118 days.

As pets

Kinkajous are sometimes kept as pets. They are playful, generally quiet, docile, and have no noticeable odor. However, they can occasionally be aggressive. Kinkajous dislike being awake during the day, noise, and sudden movements. An agitated kinkajou may emit a scream and attack, usually clawing its victim and sometimes biting deeply.

In El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras pet kinkajous are commonly called micoleón, meaning "lion monkey".

They live an average of about 23 years in captivity, with a maximum recorded life span of 41 years.

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Coati Information

Coatis, also known as Brazilian aardvarks are members of the raccoon family. They are diurnal mammals native to South, Central, and south-western North America. The word "coatimundi" is a commonly used misnomer applied to solitary adult males of N. nasua. The term is reported to be derived from the Tupi language (Brazil).

Physical characteristics

Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 in) from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. Coatis are about 30 cm (12 in) tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 3 and 8 kg (6.6 and 18 lb), about the size of a large housecat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp canine teeth.

All coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling.

Ring-tailed coatis have either a light brown or black coat, with a lighter under-part and a white-ringed tail in most cases. Coatis have a long brown tail with rings on it which are anywhere from starkly defined like a raccoon's to very faint. Like the raccoons and unlike Ring-tailed Cats and Cacomistles, the rings go completely around the tail. Coatis often hold the tail erect, and it used as such to keep troops of coatis together in tall vegetation. The tip of the tail can be moved a bit on its own, as is the case with cats, but it is not prehensile as is that of the kinkajou, another procyonid.

Coatis have bear- and raccoon-like paws, and coatis, raccoons, and bears walk plantigrade (on the soles of the feet, as do people). Coatis have non-retractable claws. Coatis also have in common with raccoons and other procyonids (and others in the order Carnivora and rare cases amongst other mammals) double-jointed and ankles rotatable beyond 180° and therefore the ability to descend trees head-first. Other animals living in forests have acquired some or all of these properties through convergent evolution, including members of the mongoose, civet, ferret-skunk, cat, and bear families. Some of these animals walk on the toes of the front paws and soles of the back paws.

The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like and extremely flexible and can be rotated up to 60° in any direction, the former being part of the reason for its nickname the hog-nosed raccoon. The nose is utilized to push objects and rub parts of their body.

The facial markings include white markings around the eyes and on the ears and snout.

Coatis have strong limbs to climb and dig, and have a reputation for intelligence, like their fellow procyonid the raccoon.

They prefer to sleep or rest in elevated places and niches, like the rainforest canopy, in crudely-built sleeping nests.

Habitat and range

Coati species are widespread, occupying habitats ranging from hot and arid areas to humid Amazonian rainforests or even cold Andean mountain slopes, including grasslands and bushy areas. Their geographical range extends from the Southwestern U.S. (southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas) through northern Argentina.

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Cacomistle

The Cacomistle is a nocturnal, arboreal and omnivorous member of the carnivoran family Procyonidae. Its preferred habitats are wet, tropical evergreen woodlands and mountain forests, though seasonally it will range into drier deciduous forests.

Nowhere in its range (from southern Mexico to western Panama) is B. sumichrasti common. This is especially true in Costa Rica, where it inhabits only a very small area. It is completely dependent on forest habitat, making it particularly susceptible to deforestation.

The term cacomistle is from the Nahuatl language (tlahcomiztli) and means "half cat" or "half mountain lion" it is sometimes also used to refer to the ringtailed cat, Bassariscus astutus, a similar species that inhabits arid northern Mexico and the American Southwest.

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