The white-nosed coati is closely related to a raccoon. The average adult male coati is about 3.5 feet long and weighs close to 10 pounds. The male coatis are almost twice the size of females.

Coatis spend most of their time on the ground, but they climb trees as easily as a squirrel. When in trees, their long tail seems to function, as does that of a squirrel, mostly used for balance. They also live in some of Costa Rica's rocky canyons.

Unlike their cousins, the raccoon, white-nosed coatis are diurnal, meaning they are active during the daytime, like humans. The coati's long snout helps the coati snuffle around on the forest floor looking for insects, fruit and small animals. Coatis are considered carnivorous by most scientists, though they eat vegetation and carrion as well, which would make them omnivores and scavengers alike.

Except for old males, which tend to travel by themselves, coatis are sociable creatures and travel in packs or troops. They are also very well-adapted to human contact, often breaking into people's garbage cans just like the North American Raccoon.

Even though, coatis are diurnal animals that spend most of their time on the ground, they prefer to sleep in the trees. The trees offer them better protection from predators.

Young coatis are constantly noisy and love to play, chasing one another up and down trees. As is usual among social animals, the coati is very vocal, issuing snorts, grunts, screams, whines, and chatters.

Coatis are found all over North, Central, and South America. In the United States, coatis live in Texas and in southwestern Arizona.

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Unlike most other animals, cotamundis are comfortable sharing their habitat with humans. They often break into people's garbage and cause many of the same problems that raccoons do.