Rare Ring-Tailed Cat Spotted In San Antonio

A rare ring-tailed cat has been sighted in San Antonio, Texas. The cat was spotted when a man and his girlfriend were outside playing basketball.

Ring-tailed cats exist, but they are very hard to spot because of their elusive nature and their low population numbers.

The cat was spotted while sitting on some power lines above the basketball court on July 1.

Eric Garcia told KVUE that he believed at first that the cat was a monkey because its physical characteristics more closely resembled a possum or raccoon.

The ring-tailed cat reportedly had zebra-like stripes on its tail and closely resembled the ring-tailed lemur.

According to Zookeeper Lyssa MacMillan, the local zoo was not missing any lemurs, which likely means the sighting was actually that of the elusive ring-tailed cat. MacMillan also reveals that the cats are “actually not cats.” Instead, they are more closely related to raccoons but are “much smaller and native to Texas.”

MacMillan says the ring-tailed cat (pictured above) is not typically seen during the day because it is a nocturnal animal.

Sightings of the ring-tailed cat are most likely to occur on the southeast side of San Antonio. Experts says most of the rare sightings occur in parking lots and other open spaces.

Despite being native to Texas, most residents in the state will never see a ring-tailed cat. Some residents may have seen the “cats” from a distance but believed they were viewing a raccoon.

Do you think the ring-tailed cat looks anything like an actual feline?

.