A couple years ago, a friend sent me a photo of an animal she saw on her security camera. “What is this?”, she asked. I immediately responded, “It is a ring-tailed cat.” She lives in a regular neighborhood north of Tucson. Not like she lives on the edge of wilderness in some canyon somewhere. I thought, what a treat to know that such a cute little thing is carousing her neighborhood. I’ve seen raccoons on my security cameras and on my trail cameras (see video below), and I was thrilled with that.  But ringtails are a special kind of cuteness. Maybe it is just because you never see them much. They are nocturnal. 

Raccoon

Bassariscus astutus

I have a friend who has been studying a family of ringtails on the Mogollon Rim for the last 8 years. He has invited me repeatedly to check out the family. He says when they walk their hips do a little shimmy because of that ability to rotate their hind legs. Who wouldn’t want to see that? And since my other friend here in Tucson might frown on having me camp in her backyard, I decided to go to the Mogollon Rim. 

Mogollon Rim

The Mogollon Rim stretches 200 miles across the northern part of Arizona. In September, when it was still 110 degrees in Tucson, I escaped to the mountains. The higher elevations (4,000 to 8,000 feet) change from our desert climate to lovely forests with lakes and pine trees! I think it was about 75-80 degrees. 

As I set out to specifically photograph ringtails, it would require meeting them at night. On their time, their terms. 

First, I drove about 12 miles down a dirt road with the occasional 60 foot drop to my side. Safety first! Yeah, that took about 45 minutes. I met my friend and he showed me the area around the ringtail den. I never saw the actual den. I think it was on the side of the cliff. So, as I mentioned above…. “the edge of the wilderness in a canyon somewhere”… that’s right. Here I am. In that. 

We set up my camera equipment and waited. It’s not a zoo. No guarantees. 

My friend had things to do. He left. So I brought a folding chair and sat in the dark….. by myself… on the edge of a 60 foot cliff….in a canyon…Plenty of time to think. Mostly musing, was this the best example of my safety first theory?

On my drive, I was hoping to see a bear or maybe a mountain lion, as my friend has seen them as he frequents the area. I was hoping they might cross the road and I’d photograph them from my car. I was driving really slowly. Wouldn’t that have been awesome!

But as I sat there alone in the dark, I began to rethink my wish. I did not have the tactical advantage in this scenario. Literally every living thing around me could see me better, hear me better, and smell me better. The rocky outcropping was prime for a twisted ankle if I even tried to navigate in the dark. I sort of teetered in my folding chair for the night. 

In the canyon below me was a nice little creek that I could hear all night. I’m glad I don’t have that reflex that some have of when they hear water they have to pee. None of that! That would have been very inconvenient. I didn’t bring any food. No need to be actual bait. 

But I was food to an unexpected entourage of mosquitoes. They were thick as the sun went down. I thought, this is Arizona, what’s with all the bugs?!?  I got eaten! By the morning, I counted 30 bites on my face, neck and chest. More even on my arms and legs. 

I had to sit still and quiet so as not to scare the little darlings I came to see. 

Then it got cold. Surprisingly cold. Like 40 degrees maybe. I put on the light jacket I brought and frankly wished it had occurred to me to put it on earlier. It may have saved my flesh from the mosquito depredation. It was not as helpful as I had hoped for warmth or a bug barrier. 

Before my friend left, I did ask him, “what do I do if a bear comes?” He said, say “Hi bear!” Right. I forgot. How stupid of me. 

My thoughts drifted from the big to the small. I’ve got flying bugs, what about the creepy crawlies that like the night too. I’m generally not scared of scorpions, spiders, or snakes…. in the daytime, on my terms. But in the dark? Holding so still meant as I felt an individual hair twitch on my body, I could only think of it as a sign of an impending arachnid encounter. Happy to report that nothing else bit me. A daddy long legs worked the area and several beetles, but that’s a benign report. Whew!

The ringtails did come! They didn’t stop and pose. When I got anything at all in my frame, it was mostly parts…a wisp, a hint of their entirety. I took over 1,000 photos with several cameras all night to get these few. Two nights actually. Totally worth it!

After my excursion, I showed my photos to my aunt, and while she is usually very complimentary about my photos, she was not feeling the love for these guys. She thought they were the ugliest cat she had ever seen. Ha! They aren’t actually a cat, they are part of the raccoon family. They should really be referred to as just ringtail. They are also related to the coati. I still think they are adorable! They only weigh about 1-2 pounds and with their long tail, are about 2 feet long.

According to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum, they are our state mammal! Who knew??? They have a nice informative video on YouTube about them.