St. George police shared this photo of the ring-tailed cat on the department's Facebook page.
ST. GEORGE — Police in St. George responded to multiple calls of a masked bandit, up in a tree, outside a liquor store.
Turns out, the bandit was a ring-tailed cat who climbed up the wrong tree and was becoming distressed.
Officer Lona Trombley says, “ring-tailed cats are native to the area, but they usually climb up palm trees for shade. This tree was still mostly bare from winter.
Ring-tailed cats look similar to Lemurs but come from different families. Most people will recognize lemurs from the movie ‘Madagascar.’ Lemurs are related to primates, whereas ring-tailed cats are related to the raccoon family.
Trombley says the Utah Division of Wildlife captured the cat and relocated it as quickly as possible back into the wild.
“Every once-in-a-while, wildlife will spill into the city,” Trombley said, but added the ring-tailed cat was a first for her.