An Unwanted Visitor

If you are like us, you make every effort to keep critters out of your rig.  Well, it's not just rigs we try to keep the critters out of.  

When we close the gift shop at Kartchner Caverns State Park, we put out one of those "have a heart" animal traps.  We aren't concerned about mice or rats; we are concerned about ringtails. 

According to wikipedia, a ringtail is better known as a ring-tailed cat, a member of the raccoon family and not a cat at all.  This mammal is found in the southwest USA and in Mexico.

The other morning when we opened the gift shop, we noticed a box of doggie treats had been opened, and over a dozen of the treats had been nibbled on.  At closing, we always put anything edible inside a cabinet.  The doggie treats are a new item we are carrying, and we didn't think about putting them away.  Yes, the trap was out, but there was no ring-tail.

Fast forward a couple of days.  When my co-worker, Cindy, opened the store, this is what greeted her.

She notified the state park staff, and they took the cage and released the animal several miles away.

So, yes, we had an unwanted visitor in the store...but wasn't he a cutie???