North American Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) Fact Sheet: Diet & Feeding

Omnivorous carnivorous

• Consume a wide variety of foods
• Diet seasonal (Poglayen-Neuwall 1990; Taylor 1954; Wyatt 1993)
• Summer and Fall: insects are primary food source
• Winter and Spring: fruit and warm-blooded animals

Insects and other arthropods (Taylor 1954; Toweill and Terr 1977)

• Largest proportion of diet
  
  • 21-73%, one study
  • Location dependent; lesser component of diet in California's Central Valley (Wyatt 1993)
• Orthoptera primarily (crickets and grasshoppers)

Mammals (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988, Taylor 1954; Toweill and Terr 1977; Wyatt 1993)

• Fox and ground squirrels
• Cottontail rabbit
• Cotton and wood rats
• Small mice (such as white-footed and harvest mice)
• Bats

Birds (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988, Taylor 1954; Toweill and Terr 1977)

• Passerines ("perching birds")
• Columbids (dove and pigeons)
• Galliformes (such as bobwhite quail)

Reptiles (Taylor 1954)

• Lizards
• Skinks
• Snakes

Scavenge available carrion

• Deer
• Domestic sheep
• Skunk
• Other carrion

Consume fruits and nectar when available (summarized from Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988; Taylor 1954; Toweill and Terr 1977)

• Cactus fruit
• Acorns
• Juniper berries
• Mistletoe berries
• Persimmons
• Wild figs
• Nectar (Kuban and Schwartz 1985)

Hunting practices

• Search under rocks, dead branches and in crevasses (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)
• Pounce on and bite the neck of prey (Zeveloff 2002)
• Pin small animals with the front feet (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)

Feeding

• Begins at head of prey (Grinnel et al 1937; Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)

Other feeding behaviors

• Press large fruits to the ground, breaking off small pieces (Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill 1988)
• After feeding, ringtails sit on hindquarters, licking forefeet and wiping cheeks, snout, and ears (Taylor 1954)

Ringtail eating.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Grinnel et al (1937)
Kuban and Schwartz (1985)
Poglayen-Neuwall (1990)
Poglayen-Neuwall and Toweill (1988)
Taylor (1954)
Toweill and Terr (1977)
Wyatt (1993)
Zeveloff (2002)