Rare creature caught on camera in Texas park

Texas Park Rangers spotted an elusive nocturnal creature on the prowl during a nighttime survey shocking onlookers.

A ringtail cat was filmed strolling through Palo Duro Canyon State Park near Amarillo on September 12.

The critter is a cat-sized carnivore that looks like a small fox with a long raccoon-like tail and is completely nocturnal - meaning it spends the entire day sleeping, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Excited park rangers were in disbelief when they noticed the ringtail and filmed it as a ran through the rocky terrain.  

'I told you,' one ranger said as they started to record. 'No way,' said another.

The video starts on the ringtail moving through some bushes before it comes into sight before it continued to climb through the rocks.

'Isn't that cool,' the ranger said. 'Look at that, he's hopping,' said the other.

Ringtail cats are not members of the feline family but get their name from their cat-like appearance. 

They are members mammals of the raccoon family native to the Southwest desert region.

They only come out at night and have a scattered population, which makes them hard to spot in the wild, according to the San Antonio Zoo.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists ringtails as a species of least concern, meaning their population is stable but they do face some risks such as habit loss.

They prefer to live in rocky areas and they are excellent climbers which allows them to build their dens in crevices and hollows.

Ringtails tend to live alone, however mothers will live with their babies, and they often only leave at night to mate and eat. 

They eat a wide variety of foods including birds, rodents, carrion, reptiles and amphibians, as well as insects such as grasshoppers and crickets. They also eat native fruits and berries as well.

Last year, a ringtail cat was found lethargic on an Amarillo property and taken to the Wild West Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

'[The ringtail] presented with extreme lethargy, dehydration, malnutrition, and hypothermia,' the center said.

A veterinarian determined the creature has ingested Bromethalin - rat poison - and died reported local radio station The Bull.

In January, a ringtail was discovered in a pantry in downtown Longmont, Colorado.

It's presence in northern Colorado stunned rescuers as the area is outside of their native territory. 

'We were also surprised to see one in such an urban setting along the Front Range, Mysti Tatro, community relations manager for Greenwood Wildlife, told KDVR at the time.

'We really aren't sure how this little critter ended up in a Longmont pantry. Perhaps it hitched a ride? It's hard to know, but there have been sightings on the Front Range so it's not completely out of the question that it was simply living in the wild and then decided to pry itself indoors during the recent cold snap.'