Ringtail squashed flat by the forces of time, entropy, gravity, and gnawing teeth pulling what they can from the bone. Orange jacket is not the best thing for camouflage so when the ranger calls from the road saying it’s best not to be up in that area because it disturbs the wildlife I’m wondering if they mean the ghosts too?
I tell them I’m collecting trash, which is true, but something holds me back from telling them about the Ringtail hide still in good shape if a little flattened just off the deer trail below the top of the slab. I actually see them again at the top of the ridge trash bag in hand through pure coincidence and they were like, Oh? Word you’re not lying – as a good thing, and I still didn’t mention the Ringtail. Didn’t even think of it till I got home and looked them up. The civet cat.
Ringtails live in the cliffs dropping off the backside of the ridge. I saw one years later in the same spot where if you run uphill like looney tunes you’ll soon find yourself with 60 feet of air beneath your feet. Pinon Pine and Juniper. Boulders large enough to live beneath. I remember meeting dudes living in tents beneath the cliff face and saying it was a little slice of heaven. I tried to coach their expectations since the tent was visible from the gated community next to the city park and it was only a matter of time.
They had a notice from the rangers by the end of the day. I don’t think the police HOT team even had to come out but I never saw them again. The Ringtail is still there. Looks a little like a fox but more closely related to the racoon, they live in sandstone castles. As predators, they occupy the niche below Mountain Lion in the food chain across land too rocky for the fox to run.
The next time I returned along the frontage road on the deer path the Ringtail carcass was still there, but more decayed. No longer museum quality. I feel like I failed by not preserving it for people to see and raise awareness of its actual existence. Instead it decomposes into the edged grasses, red/quartz sandstone mix with a few scrub oak and ponderosas leading back to the top. I still wear the orange coat but fail to meet the ranger as I make the rounds picking up trash, volunteering to clear the land of what it doesn’t need, and leaving behind what it does.
