Although I’ve been to Arizona and I have seen this mountain from a distance, I have never seen a ring-tailed “cat” in person.
However, if I had come across it, I would have known what it was.
Old miners and prospectors used to keep them for rodent control purposes. They are pretty good mousers, but they are not obligate carnivores as ferrets and domestic cats are.
As a kid, I watched a Wonderful World of Disney special about one, which was called a “miner’s cat.” It was a fictionalized account of one that actually lived with an old silver miner.
These animals are not “cats.” They aren’t civets either. They are procyonids– members of the raccoon family.
I thought I was going insane. Guess I am not the only one who remembers that Disney special.
There was one about urban coyotes in the city of Los Angeles too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216192/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217335/
Thanks for the memory rush!