Margit Sands, a Buttes' ranching family member and MMF Board Director cradles an endearing Ringtail that was live trapped recently on a research outing at the Dean ranch in the center of the Buttes. Calm in her hands due to a sedating injection, the elusive nocturnal mammal is a cousin to the raccoon.

Researchers, Gene Trapp and David Wyatt from the Department of Biological Sciences at CSU Sacramento, have uncovered significant findings in the course of twenty years of accessing the Buttes to study the Ringtail. Their studies have revealed our Buttes Ringtail population density to be among the highest documented anywhere in the wild. For more detailed information, we invite you to attend our outings in the Buttes. The preservation of open and undeveloped places like the Sutter Buttes provides pockets of wildlife habitat that are accessible for research and study. We all benefit from this land use.