1937 J. Grinnell et al. 172 The name ‘miner's cat’ was applied because in early days miners and prospectors kept these animals as pets to rid their cabins of mice and pack rats.
1984 D. Macdonald II. 107 The ringtail is a graceful carnivore which was often reared as a companion and mouser in prospectors' camps in the early American West—hence the name Miner's cat.