Coatimundi (Nasua nasua)

Main sources Nowak, Ronald, 1991, Walker's Mammals of the world, Fifth Edition (two vols.), Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; Hoffmeister, D. F., 1986, Mammals of Arizona, Tucson: University of Arizona Press; Burt, W. & R. Grossenheider, eds., 1976, A Field Guide to the Mammals, Peterson Field Guides: Houghton Mifflin;

The Coatimundis range from Argentina to our area of southeastern Arizona (which they may have reached only in the twentieth Century), with their lands of origin well to the south of us (a second species is found only on an island located off northeastern Yucatan). They range in size from 410-670 mm (16"-26") head-&-body length, with tails ranging from 320-690 mm (13"-27") in length (note the proportions in the banner images above), and they weigh from 3-6 kg (8-16 lbs).

Their furry markings are distinct: a long, ringed tail (but the rings are much less distinctive than those of our Ringtail), a whitish nose, chin and throat, behind a black snout and which ends in front of the darkened cheeks, and it also has white spots above and below the eyes. The one we photographed at left (our best effort so far) has a strip of white behind the head, as does the one in the banner image top right, but this is not a species marker (perhaps tribal?). The mask-like character of the face of course links them with their procyonid relatives, the raccoons.

 

Like raccoons, their front paws are prehensile, while their rear paws are very foot-like. At far left, coati hindfootpads (from a corpse); at middle left, the same animal's forepaws. (Note the adaptation of the foreclaws for digging.) (click on the images to enlarge them.)

Coatis are diurnal, omnivorous, and excellent climbers, using their tails (semiprehensile, carried erect when walking) as balancing organs. Coatis are highly intelligent animals. For example, see their technique for capturing and eating Tarantulas. Their long, highly mobile snouts are well adapted for exploring crevices. They eat a wide variety of arthropods and some small mammals, but when fruit is abundant they may eat that almost exclusively. We have seen a whole troop feasting noisily in the branches of a Netleaf Hackberry that was full of its small pink fruits.

They run in matriarchal tribes of a dozen or more (and much larger tribal groups have been observed). Males become solitary when about two years old, and then only during the breeding season, when fruits are ripe and hence there is little competition for food, is a single male accepted into the group. Even at that time, the male is totally subordinate to the females.

In groups Coatis are quite vocally communicative, confident, and courageous. We know Saguaro Juniper people who have stood or sat quietly while large troops of Coatis have approached, then milled around them, casually keeping an eye on the biped in their midst. (Unfortunately, so far none of these folks has happened to carry a camera at the time!)

Below, Coati tracks made in two differing situations. At left and Center, the tracks were made in nearly dry River mud, several months previously. At right, the two tracks (hind paw rear, front paw to right and forward) were made in loose silt, earlier in the same day as the photograph. (click on the images to enlarge them.)

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Below, a Coati skull found alone near the top of Rabbit Ears Saguaro Hill, presumably carried there by a predator. Note the strongly carnivorous character of the teeth, and the rather large cranial size in relation to the rest of the head.

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