Coatimundi adapting to lower desert elevations

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but as far as I know (and I had one as a pet as mentioned before) they don't look anything like a ringtail cat, other than the tail.

Is there some other ringtail out west? Could be me that's way off.

They look a lot like a raccoon though.
 
Originally Posted By: CZ527Is there some other ringtail out west?
Raccoons and ringtail cats would be the only predators/furbearers in the southwest that have banded tails that are very distinctly bicolored. The tail bands on the Coatimundi I have seen in the wild in AZ have been very faint.

Coatimundi's are from the same family as raccoons (Procyonidae).

White Nosed Coatimundi

 
Quote:I'm not going to say it's impossible that they've migrated to Northern Az., but it's not very likely. They are very often confused with the ring tail cat, which looks very similar if you don't know the difference.

I know this is an old post but I thought of it this weekend so I looked it up to share my experience. I've been hunting elk in northern AZ and we saw a coatimundi on the San Francisco Peaks this past Friday. Walked right past us at about 10 yards and I watched it for about 5 minutes. It was not a ringtail or any other animal, it was definitely a coatimundi. Lone male (presumably). I do believe it is very rare that they are up here but I saw it with my own eyes. I thought about shooting it but I have no beef with them and it foraged out of pistol range pretty quickly. Killed one a few years ago (also a lone male) and decided I probably wouldn't shoot another one.

A friend got a trail cam pic of one on Mingus mountain last year, I saw the picture. Also definitely a coatimundi.
 
Cool experience. I'm with you, I'd like to get just one, a nicely furred one that I could have a full body mount done of. I think it'd look pretty cool on the bookshelf or dresser next to a javelina skull.
 
Yeah, the one I shot I just got the pelt tanned and it sucks, they have hair not fur so it didn't turn out well. A friend had a rug mount done on his, it looks pretty good... I'll probably eventually get one more.
 
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