Coati Mundi - Another Strange Visitor

Yesterday afternoon, we had another strange visitor come into our yard. It is called a:

 Coati Mundi

(kow'aatee'múndee)

(picture taken from the internet to show example - Courtesy of Black Pine in Indiana)

Now, these guys are a member of the raccoon family. They eat both meat and vegetation. In spite of being part of the raccoon family, Coatis look very different - They sport a much longer snout, smaller stature, smaller eyes, shorter ears and longer hair. However, as a raccoon, the Coati Mundi shares a long tail marked with dark bands - One important thing to note is that they have very long and effective claws that can do a lot of damage to anything coming after them. You will soon see why this is one of my main concerns.

These critters like to climb high into trees and for some strange reason they can rotate their hind feet to make coming down from a tree head first much easier. They are also very fast and can run at speeds up to 15 miles per hour.

I have never seen an animal like this before, but they live in the US, Mexico, Central and South America. The females live in groups of up to 20, but the males are much more reclusive and stay to themselves.

If you are thinking of having one of these for a pet, forget it. They are not domesticated, and have no desire to be trained making them not an ideal candidate for your best friend.

Now - what happened yesterday:

• This creature was strolling across our lawn by the pool - I yelled to Stef to let her know what was going on - Abby also saw and began chasing it - up into a tree by the guest house.
• It climbed down and jumped to the ground and hauled butt with Abby chasing it -  and, almost caught it, which could have been very bad for Abby - THANK GOD!! Because that thing could have killed our precious dog with it's claws.

Anyway - it is gone now - and, I do not think it will want to come back with Abby guarding the house. - We found out that our friend Betty knows that these critters are hanging around close to her place that is only a couple of hundred meters from our house. - She has taken some pictures of which, I think you will enjoy - Take a look

This was really another great experience in learning about the wonders of Costa Rica - we do not mind these animals being here because it is their place to live as much as it is ours.

Here is a website that provides mucho information about Coati Mundi's. It also has some videos of how the animal interacts with humans. We think you will enjoy it.

http://www.squidoo.com/coatimunde