Last night the Capt spotted a couple of
coatimundis racing through the parking lot, and my first reaction was a resolution not to let the dogs out at night without a chaperone anymore. I've seen skunks here a few times at night, but these coatis are, from what I've heard, more of a danger to small dogs that attempt to chase them. They're members of the raccoon family and inherited that fierce sense of self-protection that could lead them to attack our girls, who have had almost no exposure to wildlife and would probably mistake one for a cat.
I've never had a close encounter with a coati, only running away at a distance, but I looked them up this morning and learned that they can be adopted as pets, though they're likely to tear up a home if left to their own devices. Very hyper and vocal, according to one web page,
http://6thgradeanimalresearch.pbworks.com/Coatimundi
