Question: Coatimundi, have you ever seen one? if not, but you find you have damage from digging around your home, peels from fruit from your fruit trees on the ground, in and around your home, ranch, or business, it may not be a skunk, a raccoon, a rock squirrel, or an armadillo, it may be a Coati!
Coatimundi, a member of the raccoon and ringtail (Arizona’s State Mammal), family, are diurnal, which means they typically feed, forage, and move during the daytime. For this reason, if you are in southern Arizona and are driving or hiking through wooded areas, open grasslands, or scrub desert, you may have seen them-probably from a distance. One of their distinctive features is their long tail, often seen held straight up as they travel in bands of upwards of 15-25. Larger packs have been noted, but just to see a group of animals walking with what looks like walking sticks sticking straight up in the air for the first time, is really something to see. It is not uncommon to encounter a single Coati that has made a home for itself in a neighborhood or location where there is plenty of food. Below are two videos of a solo Coati that lives in Madera Canyon and has become so familiar with the animals around it that it walks through a flock of turkeys unfazed to get a drink of water. Meanwhile, in the observation area above this location are a dozen tourists with cameras filming the whole thing. Clearly, this Coati feels right at home!
Here she is calmly walking up and taking a drink out of a bird feeder
Coatimundi (Coatis) range from Central America up into Southern Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The species we have here are white nosed Coatis and are slightly different than those south of Mexico into Central and parts of South America. Males are usually loners, with the exception of mating season but, the young and female Coatis are very social and often live and forage together as a band for a majority of their lifetime. In Central and South America, Coatis are often domesticated and, once they bond with their owner, they transfer their social bond to their band and are loving and loyal to their new “family.”
Coatis eat almost anything. Fruits, insects, small rodents, snakes, cactus fruit, eggs, and young birds make up a large portion of their diet. Their long nose is very sensitive to smell and it comes in handy when grubbing for insects, small rodents, or edible roots. Coatis can climb for food, to escape danger, and may choose climb and den in a crevice of a large tree. Their front legs are shorter than their back legs and when they are walking toward you it looks like their front legs are a little bowlegged. The front feet have long unretractable claws that are used for digging, self- defense, and it is a really unlucky dog that tries to mess with a male coati that decides to stand its ground or a female defending her young. The scratches to the face and eyes of a dog that takes a Coati on can be very serious.
Raccoons are far more prevalent in the city of Tucson and the surrounding developments than Coatis and Coatis are more prevalent on the outskirts of the city-in open land and on ranches and farms. It is a toss-up as to which species is seen more, raccoons or Coatis. Since raccoons come out at night and Coatis inhabit the fringes of urban areas, there are many residents of southern Arizona who have never seen either of them. Hands down, however, raccoons are more obvious in the amount of destruction they cause because they are well adapted to live in urban areas and happily live and raise their young around populated areas, in attics, sheds, and homes. (There are 10's of thousands of feral cats in and around Tucson which are fed by cat lovers. Raccoons also may be seen more frequently because they often compete for cat food that is left out for a feral cat(s) and, while around the home, help themselves to plants, or destroy other items in the neighborhood. Coatis, being more prone to travel in large bands, need more open space and will cause damage and dig around plants and cause havoc in other ways.
1st Response Wildlife recently trapped a Coati that was being a nuisance and, relocated it to an area that was comfortable in terrain, food and water, and with plenty of room to forage and create a new home.
Below is a picture of a white nosed Coati in a trap.
Above is a picture of a Coati being a little shy, snuggling with a towel in the trap and wrapping its tail around it for more warmth. Below is the video.
Here is another short video of the Coati being released. This video is fairly short but, note the length of the tail and imagine looking out over an open area and seeing 15-25 tails that long moving through the desert, desert grass or scrub! Quite a sight.
If you have a Coati, raccoon, or ringtail that are creating a nuisance around property you manage, your home, or feel your children or pets would be safer if you chose an option for removal and relocation, give 1st Response Wildlife a call.
Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife
Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517
Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), coyotes, snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, opossums, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), ringtails, exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7. Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!
