Bassariscus astutus Lichtenstein, 1830

Hoffman, Justin D., Lester, Courtney, Doucet, Darian & Iguwe, Damilola, 2024, UPDATED CHECKLIST AND DISTRIBUTION Of WILD TERRESTRIAL MAMMALS IN LOUISIANA, Occasional Papers of the Museum 389, pp. 1-28 : 17

Bassariscus astutus Lichtenstein, 1830

Ringtail

Bassariscus astutus are known from only a few records in northern and southcentral Louisiana. Lowery (1974) reported two specimens and two nonvouchered records of B. astutus . Since then, Hoffman and Chauhan (2020) reported one additional specimen record from Lafayette Parish in 1977. In 2022, a single individual was found in a stack of concrete blocks from a lumber yard in Church Point , Acadia Parish. It was determined that the concrete blocks had originated in Texas and were just recently delivered ( Michael Seymour, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries , personal communication). Although this would constitute a parish record, given the circumstances of its arrival, it seems more likely its presence in Louisiana was the result of incidental transport and not natural dispersal.