Active by day (very seldom at night), the White-nosed Coati holds its long tail high and nearly erect, except for the curled tip. It swims well and is an excellent climber, using its long tail to keep its balance on branches. When startled, a coati generally climbs a tree, but when treed by humans, it descends rapidly and may attack and injure dogs. During the hottest part of the day, it may nap in a shady spot. The White-nosed Coati spends the night in trees, ascending toward dusk. Because it inhabits warm latitudes, it remains active in winter and needs no den for warmth. During the day the coati forages for food, frequently pausing for grooming sessions, during which it combs its fur with its teeth or the claws of either forefeet or hindfeet. Its diet includes invertebrates and lizards found in soil surface litter. Because coatis are extremely fond of fruit, including that of the manzanita, juniper, and prickly pear, a troop may ignore customary foods and visit a fruit-bearing tree daily until it is stripped. More gregarious than other members of the raccoon family, coatis are fairly conspicuous, traveling about in troops of 4 to 25 females and their young. The young engage in constant noisy play, chasing one another up and down trees. Males are solitary except during the breeding season. As is usual among social animals, the coati is very vocal (much more so than the Common Raccoon), issuing snorts, grunts, screams, whines, and chatters. The White-nosed Coati is abundant in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, where it has been blamed for damage to orchards and the deaths of chickens and dogs. Although a record of this species dates from 1892 at Fort Huachuca, its abundance in the area may be a relatively recent phenomenon. Hawks and eagles have been seen capturing coatis.

description Dark brown above. Long, pointed snout with facial mask; white toward tip and around eye, sometimes with black or dark brown patches on upper part. Rather thin tail with 6–7 indistinct bands. Feet dark. Ears small. Male much larger than female. L 33–53" (850–1,340 mm); T 16 1/2 –27" (420–680 mm); HF 3 3/4–4 3/4" (95–122 mm); Wt 16 1/2 –27 lb (7.5–12.2 kg).

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