Here is a video clip that I took at the top of Piestewa Peak today. This animal that looks like a small fox but has a ringed tail and the demeanor of a cat comes strolling along and hangs out with me at the top. I poured some water into a hole in the rocks at my feet and he (she/it) drank a fair amount of it. I'm sure he was looking for food but I know that's wrong so I didn't give him any.
Anyway, what is he? What type of desert animal is this. Very friendly and laid back, almost domesticated. And what the hell was he doing 1,200 feet higher than the closest house if he is a scavenger? (I'm assuming that people have been feeding him but at the peak? Why not lower down?)
The other persons voice that you hear in the video is someone who arrived at the summit with me and he said that he's been hiking to that peak for 20 years and had never seen anything like that. I think that 20 years is a hell of a long time to get to the top considering that it only took me 36 minutes but then that heavy panting you hear at the beginning of the video is the 20-year hiker catching his breath.
3 comments:
Looks to me like a cross between a lemur(the ring-tailed variety) and a bush baby...ldg
Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bush baby comes from Australia and a Lemur from Madagascar. That would make this Arizonan creature one of the most interesting mixes in animal history.
I'm late in the game here, so surely you've found out what it is, but it is a ringtail, and they are desert natives. A lot of people confuse them with racoons or stray cats! :) Nice find!!
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