Author: Noelle M. Brooks

Although the white-nosed coati searches for food both on the ground and in the forest canopy, frequently climbing to obtain fruits, it is more typically seen on the ground and is considered terrestrial.

Adult male white-nosed coatis are sometimes active at night, but coatis are primarily diurnal and spend the day foraging on the ground before sheltering in the treetops at night.

White-nosed coatis will travel up to 2,000 meters in a single day in a quest for food, foraging with their muzzle close to the forest floor to sniff.

In February or March, the most dominant male white-nosed coati will breed with each member of the band in a tree and is driven away afterward due to his juvenile-killing behavior.

White-nosed coatis are omnivores that primarily eat insects, but will feast on beetles, spiders, scorpions, ants, termites, grubs, centipedes, crabs, fruit, mice, lizards, and frogs.

Adult male white-nosed coatis live territorial, solitary lives and establish non-overlapping ranges that they mark by spraying urine or dragging their abdomens on a surface and spreading anal secretions.

The white-nosed coati's black ring-covered tail makes up over half its body length and is held erect while walking.

The white-nosed coati's population details are unknown, but estimates range from rare in the United States to common in Costa Rica.

White-nosed coatis are highly adaptable, but basically inhabit subtropical/tropical dry high-altitude forests and grasslands, as well as moist lowland forests.

White-nosed coatis live in protective bands of 4-30 individuals including males up to two years of age and females who are not necessarily related.

The white-nosed coati is native to North and South America and ranges from southeastern Arizona through Mexico and Central America and into western Colombia and Ecuador.

The white-nosed coati is plantigrade with shorter forelegs than hindlegs and black, clawed feet with naked soles.

The white-nosed coati is also known as the "coatimundi", originating from Tupian Indian and translating to "belt nose", referring to the way it tucks its nose under its belly as it sleeps.