The tiny ringtailed cat treated for gunshot wounds Wednesday after being found injured in Meadow Vista died later that night.

"It was prospering when I left," said Dr. An LaBarre, veterinarian at the Companion Veterinary Clinic in Auburn. "It most likely died in the middle of the night from the pellet to the head."

An unidentified man found the wildland creature, which weighed about two pounds, and took it to the Meadow Vista Veterinary Clinic, which does not treat wildlife. The clinic contacted Gold Country Wildlife Rescue worker Kari Freidig, who brought the injured animal to Companion Veterinary Clinic.

LaBarre examined the ringtail and found four copper-coated pellets inside the animal - one through the large intestine, one in its genitals, one in the hip and one in the head.

"The shot to the head probably caused too much neurological damage for him to survive," LaBarre said. "We gave him the chance to survived, but he was too badly injured."

Had the nocturnal animal survived, it is unclear whether it would have been able to be released back in to the wild.

"It could have been released provided there were no health problems with neurology," said Aaron Bendavid, a biologist with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue. "As long as it could hunt and eat on its own, it could be released."

Some who read the article were touched by the tiny creature's fight to survive and by those willing to go to such an extent to save it.

"It's horrible," said Carly King, 19, who works at Depoe Bay coffee shop in downtown Auburn. "Why can't people respect other creatures?"

Others had something to say about the shooting.

"It reflects on the parenting of the child, if in fact a child did shoot the little animal," said 18-year-old Gia Scicluna, also a Depoe Bay employee. "It is horrible."

The very secretive ringtailed cats - which, despite their name, are in the same biological family as raccoons - are somewhat rare in the area, Bendavid said. He added he would like the public to understand that we share our community with several species of wildlife and it is important to learn to coexist.

"The public can learn that there are other animals that share this Earth with us and they are trying to live comfortably," Bendavid said. "Leave them alone and they will leave us alone."

Urban sprawl has resulted in a loss of native California species habitat, placing people in contact with numerous wildlife, he said.

"A loss of habitat and ignorance are the two biggest problems," he said. "The more people know, the more they are able to live and deal with the animals."

The Journal's Penne Usher can be reached at penneu@goldcountrymedia.com.