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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Oregon House bill would raise taxes in 13 cash-strapped counties ... Central Point man dies in Upper Applegate Road crash ... Week's temperatures forecast to peak at 111 on Thursday ... Oregon House bill would raise taxes in 13 cash-strapped counties ... Central Point man dies in Upper Applegate Road crash ... Week's temperatures forecast to peak at 111 on Thursday ... OUTDOOR JOURNAL Ringing up ringtails There are at least four known ringtail sites along the stretch of trail that begins off Highway 62 and runs up the Rogue River Gorge. They include a pair that were photographed, captured and collared last year in an effort to develop protocols for systematically surveying one of Oregon's more far-out fauna. Comment By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 19, 2014 at 2:00 AM By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 19, 2014 at 2:00 AM » Social News Walk the Rogue River Trail along Lost Creek Lake at dusk with a fistful of raisins and a small jar of jam, and the world of Dr. Seuss just might come alive right in front of you. The rare and just plain weird ringtails that live along that stretch of trail upstream of Peyton Bridge have a definite nose for fruity things. Perhaps enough that one of these critters that looks like a gray cat with a raccoon tail stapled to its butt might drop out of the pages of "Green Eggs and Ham" and dance across the trail. If so, it's a Southern Oregon Bucket List moment, a check mark somewhere between the obligatory hike to the Bigfoot trap near Applegate Lake and watching a Pacific fisher raid a woodrat's nest. "Going out and seeing one, it's a longshot," says Rosemary Stussy, a state wildlife biologist who has studied ringtails around the reservoir for more than a year. "They're a mystery. But they're there." There are at least four known ringtail sites along the stretch of trail that begins off Highway 62 and runs up the Rogue River Gorge. They include a pair that Stussy photographed, captured and collared last year in her solo effort to develop protocols for systematically surveying one of Oregon's more far-out fauna. Before it ran out of funding, the study didn't yield enough information to develop a specific survey formula that would lead to the first mapping of the ringtails' range in Oregon and what habitats they prefer. But she did survey 78 sites around Lost Creek Lake and discovered ringtails at 19 of them, including those on the Rogue River Trail, as well as the trail on the southeast bank of the reservoir just above Lost Creek Marina. That makes two starting spots for those on the trail of the elusive ringtail. "We don't really know where they exist in Oregon," Stussy says. "We don't know if they're expanding their range or contracting. But I do know that's a pretty good density of those critters in that Lost Creek area." Known scientifically as Bassariscus astutus, ringtails are not actually cats but members of the raccoon family. Adults measure 12 to 17 inches long to the base of their tales, with the tails doubling their size. They are agile climbers and prefer living in steep, rough habitats. Their ankle joints are flexible and able to rotate more than 180 degrees, and their tails not only provide stability when climbing but also allow them to reverse direction by performing cartwheels. As a state-listed "sensitive" species, ringtails cannot be trapped or hunted in Oregon. Southern Oregon appears to be on the northern end of their known range, but there are no good population or range estimates for ringtails, though occasional reports come in of them raiding bird feeders in Ashland and throughout the Applegate Valley. They are nocturnal and omnivorous, eating anything from lizards and squirrels to nuts, berries and insects. At least two have a soft spot for raisins and jam. That's what Stussy used as bait to first photograph and then capture her two ringtails just off the Rogue River Trail last summer after a lucky hiker spotted them along the pathway. After getting the animals to eat in front of the camera, she used a live trap to get the smaller one first, with the mother succumbing to the bait a week later. Stussy sedated each one, then used a zip-tie to fasten a radio-transmitter loosely around their necks before release. The ensuing tracking showed these ringtails had multiple dens and favored riparian habitat — not so much for the water but for the prey that gravitate to it, Stussy says. And they appear to be local-vores, as well. Stussy's blinged-up duo stayed all year within a one-square-mile chunk of land around the trail. Stussy also might have accidentally turned the older of the two collared ringtails into something of a jam junkie. One night she placed cameras in three spots, each trained on a small bait pile of raisins and jam. The older female hit each one. "They really key in on that bait," Stussy says. That might be just the ticket for a hiker to recreate Stussy's trail-camera study and get a jpeg moment of a ringtail, as long as the animal isn't otherwise bothered. And maybe, just maybe, a hiker could spy one just off the trail spying on them. "You'd probably have to camp out with raisins and jam on your stomach just to see one," Stussy laughs. "But they're there, for sure." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman. By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Mark Freeman Mail Tribune Posted Sep. 19, 2014 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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