Description: The ringtail is a small, slender-bodied mammal that can be distinguished by: 1) long, bushy tail with eight or nine alternate black and white bands ending in a black tip, 2) conspicuous eyes bordered by narrow black stripes, in turn surrounded by patches of white fur on the cheeks and rows, 3) large, oval ears covered with fine gray fur, darkening basally to black, 4) narrow, pointed muzzle, black on the sides with a mixture of white on the nose and dorsally, creating a salt-and-pepper effect, 5) buffy gray dorsal fur except for a faint dark stripe on the midline, 6) belly fur ranging in color from white to buffy, and 7) five toes on each foot equipped with thin, sharp, semi-retractile claws.
Size: Adults may attain the following dimensions: total length 756-781 mm; tail 376-396 mm; hind foot 73-77 mm; ear 50-52 mm; weight 953-1268 grams.
Range and Habitat: The ringtail occurs in southeastern and south-central portions of the state. Kansas represent the northern extreme of the ringtail's range in the Great Plains, and individual records for the state are rare. It prefers rocky outcrops, hills, and ridges, and will also occupy riparian forests and oak savannahs, apparently avoiding open grasslands.
Reproduction: The ringtail usually breeds in march and April. The young are born from mid-May to mid-June. The one to five (average three or four) young are born blind, covered with thin white hair, and weigh 28 grams. Their eyes open between 22 to 24 days. Until they are three weeks old, the female alone is reported to care for the young. After this time, the male also aids in their care. Teeth develop in five weeks and in seven weeks the young eat solid food readily; however, they are not weaned until seventeen weeks. At two months of age the young forage with their parents. They develop their adult fur by three months of age. The young remain with the parents through autumn. Sexual maturity appears to be attained at one year of age.
Habits: Ringtails are almost entirely nocturnal, emerging about half an hour after sunset and returning to a den at or before sunrise. Home ranges average 136 hectares (range 50-235 hectares). They rarely cover their entire home range in a single night, usually travelling about half a kilometer, but sometimes moving more than two kilometers. Individuals frequently maintain more than one den site within their home range. Population densities average two to three ringtails per square kilometer.
Ringtails are highly arboreal, spending a great deal of time in trees searching for food, avoiding predators, or using scent posts. Dens are constructed in rock crevices, caves, hollow logs or trees. The den entrance is 75 to 100 mm in diameter, and the nest 150 to 200 mm in diameter. Leaves, grasses, and fur are sometimes collected for bedding.
Food: Ringtails are omnivorous, and their diet varies seasonally and geographically. They are known to eat birds, rabbits, voles, rats, deer mice, ground squirrels, carrion, grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, juniper berries, hackberries, chokeberries, and cactus fruits.
Remarks: Ringtails were first collected in Kansas in January 1956 at a location seven miles east of Emporia in Lyon County. Since then other individuals have been collected sporadically. Maximum longevity of this rare mammal is probably three years in the wild and eight years in captivity.