Diet of the ring-tailed cat Bassariscus astutus in the Sierra de Santa Catarina, Mexico City

Abstract

The ring-tail cat, Bassariscus astutus, is a procyonid distributed from the northwestern and central United States of America to southern Mexico. It is considered a generalist and opportunistic species, with a diet that varies depending on its geographic location, although in general it tends to be more herbivorous, with some exceptions where animal matter dominates its diet. In the Sierra de Santa Catarina, Mexico City, we determined the diet of the cacomixtle (B. astutus) based on 61 scats recovered between february and july 2021. We determined eight food categories: seeds, stems and bark, insects, lichens, birds, terrestrial mammals, flying mammals and anthropogenic remains. Within these categories, 22 items were counted. The diet was dominated by the seeds of pirul (Schinus molle) and Prosopis sp. seeds, as well as stems and bark, and to a lesser extent the consumption of insects and terrestrial mammals was recorded. Lichen and plastics were marginally represented. Schinus molle, Calliandra houstoniana, Microtus mexicanus, Cratogeomys merriami, Choeronycteris mexicana and Notiosorex crawfordii were recorded for the first time in the diet of the cacomixtle. Although the study area is surrounded by settlements supplying anthropogenic materials to which the cacomixtle has access, we found no evidence of consumption of these resources in the SSC.