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| COATI |
THE COATIS
The coatis are one group of
four species of raccoons. The most known is the ring-tailed coati. It lives in the forest
of South America and southern USA, east of the Andes, south to northern
Argentina and Uruguay.
The coatis are the only raccoons
which are active during the day. The females are very sociable and they live in
groups up to 25 animals young and older ones. They are very noisy and they
chatter, snort, and grunt as well as whine and scream.
They are smaller and slender than the
other raccoons. They have smaller ears and a long, pointed, mobile snout. Their
coat is coloured mostly of a reddish-brown but coatis also can have
cinnamon-brown to a browny-grey. The face is not as masked as the other
raccoons. However, it has a white circle around each eye, white spots on
the cheeks and a white stripe running down to the base of the muzzle.
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The long, tapered and grasping
tail has not clearly marked rings and serves as a balance when climbing trees.
When the coatis move on the ground the tail is held upwards.
The coatis sleep at night high up in
the trees and coming down most of the days to hunt for food. Each hunts within
a 1km but sometimes it overlaps with the neighbour's area.
The diet of coatis is mainly grubs,
ants, termites, spiders and centipedes. They search with their long, mobile
snout in the forests litter or rotting wood and rock crevices. Females also
kill and eat small invertebrates and lizards. The male kills rodent by pressing
then to the ground. When a tree has a lot of fruit; they soon assemble there
and strip it clean. The females and young one will stop hunting for food during
the day and groom each other.
Young males are ready to mate at the
age of two to three years. He leaves the group and thereafter is only allowed
there at mating time. He moves in with grooming the females and acting
submissive. He mates with every female and after that they chase him out.
Birth takes place after 77 days. In a
nest built by the female in a tree she gives birth to three or five very badly
developed babies. The stay there for five to six weeks. The mother only leaves
for a little time to find food. After that she brings them down and joins the
group again. They are weaned after four months and they reach maturity a year
later.
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THE RINGTAILS
Ringtails are smaller than coatis. In
this group there are two types. One is, of course, the ringtail and the other
is called cacomistle and they both live in southern USA. The ringtail mostly
lives amongst rocky outcrops but it also can be found in other place. The
cacomistle mainly lives in tropical forests.
The fur of the ringtails is on the
top yellow-grey and dirty white on the underneath. Its face is fox-like with
large ears and eyes. They do not have these black face masks but have white
rings around the eyes. Their tail is very long and bushy with dark rings. They
also have hair on their soles and can slightly retract their claws.
The cacomistle is mostly dark
coloured and their tail is even longer but the rings are not very
distinguishable. The ears are pointed and the claws are not retractable.
Most of the year the ringtail lives
by itself and can have a territory of up to 3sqkm. The area is marked by scent
of urine. If in danger, it violently screams and squirts a foul-smelling liquid
from its anal glands. It is very lively, like a squirrel, leaping and climbing
very steep surfaces. It is also capable to hang upside down and clings to the
branch with its hind-legs.
The ringtail acquired several name
because of the variety of its ability. The frontier miner used it to control
the rats and it became the 'miner's cat'. It also was named the civet cat
because of the foul smelling secretion when it feels threatened. Finally it is
also known under the name of 'cat-squirrel' because of its agility.
Both species are the most meat
consuming raccoons. They have both canid-like teeth because of that. They spend
both the day sleeping. The ringtail in a den lined with moss and leaves and the
cacomistle up on a tree. When it gets dark and they wake up, they groom
themselves thoroughly. They hunt rather by waiting and ambush. They jump and
hold the victim down while they bite their neck. Their diet is small mammals,
birds, snakes, lizards, toads and frogs with 25% only of fruit, grain, and
nuts.
The mating season for both the
species is in the late winter or early spring. They give birth of up to 5
young ones after 52 days and either in dens or nests. It is surprising
that both parents look after the young ones but the major part has the female.
At birth they weigh 28g. When born, they are blind and open their eyes only
after four or five weeks which is when they start feeding on solid
food. At two months they start hunting with the female and at four
months they are weaned. They start mating when they are one year old.
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