ringtail cat

Hello, The ringtailed cat was released close to the area where it was captured so that we could better understand where they go across the landscape. We know very little about them as the two ringtails in the last year were the first to be captured live in the state. We did discuss releasing him near the female but our goals were less about reproduction and more about habitat use. We had thought about potential breeding last year after we captured the female during denning season but due to our ability to regularly monitor them closely in a reproductive situation we decided to release him close to where we found him. That is a great question and is definitely something that came to mind. We never expect to have these rare species drop into our lap like they have in the last year but the information we are gathering is providing a great deal of new information on what they do here in Idaho and if we have the ability in the future we would like to deploy a gps collar or two so we can see if the individuals overlap in their territories, but budgets and time constraints have limited us and what we can alot towards the many questions we have about these uncommonly encountered mammals. Thanks again for your inquiry. Ross Winton Regional Wildlife Biologist Magic Valley Region