Ringtail at the hummingbird feeder

Now that my annual bat visitors have left for the season, the most frequent evening guests to my hummingbird feeders are two ringtails. They don't always come together, but there are definitely two. They have the sweet tooth and prefer the sugar water.

There's also a rascally raccoon that's a bit more shy. He seems to go for the seed feeders, and I usually put them away each night to keep him from dismantling them and gorging on birdseed. (He has learned to unscrew the hook AND knock it out of the tree AND pop the lid in under a minute.)

Ringtail making a nightly run on the
hummingbird nectar, October, 2013.

She gets the feeder tilted...

...and getting just the right tilt while spanning from the tree to the feeder...

...can be a stunt worthy of a Cirque du Soleil.

After sloshing and sipping for about 45 minutes...

...the feeder will be virtually empty when she finally leaves.

She doesn't even seem to mind having her picture taken.

Posing for me while I stand only about six feet away.

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