Animal with ringleader on about a cold county (7)
I believe the answer is:
raccoon
'animal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'ringleader on about a cold county' is the wordplay.
'ringleader' becomes 'r' (first letter of ring).
'about' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'cold' becomes 'C' (abbreviation, eg on taps).
'county' becomes 'co'.
'a'+'c'+'co'='acco'
'on' after 'acco' is 'accoon'.
'r'+'accoon'='RACCOON'
'with' is the link.
(Other definitions for raccoon that I've seen before include "Greyish-brown American mammal" , "Smallish American animal" , "US mammal with a fox-like face" , "North American mammal with a ringed tail" , "US nocturnal mammal" .)