ST. GEORGE — A “masked bandit” sneaking around the trees outside a St. George liquor store was “apprehended” by authorities Friday afternoon.
Police responded on report of a wild animal at the State Liquor Store on 900 East just before 2 p.m.
“An alert citizen spotted the suspect monitoring the doors and security from a nearby tree,” St. George Police said in a playful news release issued on the department’s Facebook page.
Responding officers from the St. George Animal Shelter found a ring-tailed cat in a tree peering down at bystanders below.
Officers were able to get the animal out of the tree safely and handed it over to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
“He will be safely released to a more appropriate habitat,” the news release states.
Ring-tailed cats are found in the southwestern United States, including in parts of Southern Utah.
“They are more like a raccoon and not an actual cat,” one discerning St. George News reporter noted.
The small, nocturnal mammals make their home in rocky desert environments where they nest in trees and feed on rodents, insects, lizards and berries.
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cool !