"What The?" Wednesday: Coati (by both Sam and Maeve)

White-nosed Coatis are members of the raccoon family, or the procyonids. They live in Central and South America. They also live in our yard! They are sooo cute! Especially the baby ones. One of them came right up to us today, about 2 feet away. They're very curious but a little bit cautious at the same time. All of these pictures were taken by me (Sam) in our yard! They usually come by the house twice a day, in a pretty large group. We've also seen them up the road by the garbage cans (see, they are definitely part of the raccoon family.)

Things to Know About Coatis:

• The common name of this an animal, coati, comes from the native Tupian Indian words cua and tim.  Cua means ‘belt’ and tim means ‘nose.’The coati likes to sleep with its nose tucked into its belly. Its scientific name, Nasua, comes from the Latin word for nose. The coati has a long, flexible nose.
• They are 45-70 cm long and weigh 4-5 kg (or 9-11 lbs.)
• The sound they make is sort of like a squeak and they they do it all the time to stay in touch withe each other.
• Once they're pregnant, it takes 75 days before the babies arrive (this is called the gestation period.) They can have up to 5 cubs in one litter. The babies are born in nests made in trees.
• White-nosed coatis have strong, banded tails (which they use for balance and hold up in the air when they walk just like a cat), a long pointed nose and a reddish-brown coat.
• Racoons are usually nocturnal but coatis are diurnal (active during the day.) The are very social (except the males) and are often seen in small groups of 4-5 females and their young.
• They are good tree climbers and will look for food in the trees as well as the ground. They like eating fruits, insects, lizards, mice. Like all raccoons, they are fans of trash heaps! Sometimes they eat hanging upside down in the trees!

Bonus!

There are 2 videos to watch at the Arkive website.