I can't find a picture that I can pull up of a ringtailed cat so I guess you will have to check out the picture in this link.

http://www.americazoo.com/goto/index/mammals/265.htm

As was pointed out earlier the ringtail is suppose to be exclusive to the west. But then again the Bumble bee is suppose to be too heavy for its wings too.

i believe id have to shoot one so i could look at it up close and actually hold it up to compare with pictures or tote it to someone who might know what it is if theres 6 they wont miss 1

This description dismisses the ringtail cat and the coatamundi...

I have no idea what it is, but your description almost sounds like a Tasmanian Devil (but they are extinct and were never on this continent)

I would be inclined to agree with David that they are some escapees..how long have they been in the wild though is hard to say..

We had a guy back home in NOVA who swore up and down he killed a 400 pound whitetail doe...weighed it and everything..we laughed about it for a couple weeks until he brought a pic in..it was a cow ELK! [:-]After some research they Apparently found out that a decade or so before that a local farmer had a small herd of Elk for whatever reason, and some or all escaped...this Elk had been milling around in the woods for many years, and the coloration was darker than a normal western elk..it damn near looked like a doe whitetail...

Kinda boggles the mind and makes me sad when I get to thinking that the eastern mountains used to be filled with Elk a few hundred years ago...

wierd $hit happens...

JeffB, I don't think the Tasmanian Devil is extinct, but it may be endangered. Are you thinking of the Tasmanian Wolf? I believe they are thought to be extinct.

Hey Hoopy,
Snap a picture of the dern things,...I really want to know what it is!

Opps ..my mistake..I stand corrected...I meant the tasmanian wolf (which is actually a marsupial) not the Tasmanian Devil..

LINK to Tasmanian Wolf

Did it look like this little critter?

Both are marsupials . The Tazmanian wolf is extinct , and even Davidmil isn't crazy enough to import a Tazmanian Devil .

Let the dogs chase em down. How many dobers you got? Either that or shoot one and take a pic for us. You gotta be careful tho, if it is some endangered or thought to be extinict creature and you kill one, god forbid. But hey I wont tell if you post the pic here, and i dont think any of the other guys will either, Haha.

Good luck finding out what it is, and let us all know.

Jim

Sounds to me like a relative of the Jack-O-Lope

The Jack-O-Daniels...........