The common name of cacomistle (cacomixtle) for the ringtail is from the Nahuatl language. It translates to “half cat.” I can see that, especially when you watch them scurry around. “Look a kitty!” Another common name is miner’s cat, from the fact that miners/prospectors liked to have ringtails around for the same reason I do; they eat rodents. Yay!
The photos are Ms. Mesquitey’s and taken one early morning in our greenhouse. Yes, that is a scat on top of the irrigation clock. Well, I took that photo… of course.
SPECIAL BONUS! Here’s a link to another episode about some nearby ringtails:
https://kxci.org/podcast/literary-ringtails/
This is a rambling episode about the summer monsoon in the borderlands of southeastern Arizona. I know that I’ve rambled on like this for...
Petey babbles on about the southern sun, long shadows, kinetic art in the house and finally a small primrose. Whew! Oenothera primiveris seems a...
A morning or two after I recorded this show I heard a scaled quail calling, so now I have both species calling starting at...