LITTLETON, Colo. — After three weeks, authorities in Colorado were able to catch a rare ringtail that had made its home in the shoe department of a Kohl’s store.
According to a tweet from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the animal, a mammal belonging to the raccoon family, was a “secretive creature” that feasted on food in the Lakewood store without tripping the mechanisms in the traps set up to catch it.
The ringtail chewed through ceiling tiles and shoeboxes before it was finally caught, KDVR-TV reported.
2/2 The secretive creature was carefully collected and released into the nearby woods. Ringtail cats are not cats but are related to raccoons. The nocturnal ringtail, although native to Colorado, is a rare sight to see - but don't touch; they are wild. Take a photo instead 📸 pic.twitter.com/zqwWzMGZ3N
— Jeffco Sheriff (@jeffcosheriffco) January 9, 2023
In a Facebook post on Monday, the sheriff’s office said the nocturnal animal was been caught and relocated to nearby woods.
Ringtails are native to Colorado but are still rarely seen, KUSA-TV reported. Settlers used the ringtail as the “miner cat” to make sure rats did not enter their cabins, according to the television station.
“The nocturnal ringtail, although native to Colorado, is a rare sight to see, but don’t touch; they are wild,” the sheriff’s office tweeted. “Take a photo instead.”
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