:::::::;:i: THE TROPICS B:"--" 



acquainted with a Coati Mondi, for such it proved to 

 be. It is a dark brown animal, some three feet in 

 length and coon-like in build, except for a remarkably 

 Ions: snout and tail. 



A colony of these Coatis lived among the rocks not 

 far from our camp, and every evening they started 

 out on their foraging expeditions. They did not join 

 their cousins the Raccoons and Ring-tailed Cats about 

 our tents. When they came out about dusk, they all 

 trooped down to the water's edge and drank thirstily, 

 then washed their faces, coon-fashion, and combed 

 their handsome fur with their long claws. They ap- 

 peared to feed upon lizards and berries and they were 

 also very fond of a certain kind of hard, round fruit. 

 When four or five of them were among the branches 

 of a small sapling, the young tree suffered severely. 

 They hunted mice in the open spaces of the woods, 

 and I sometimes saw several crouched here and there, 

 ready for the first signs of life among the leaves. 

 With a dog they were easily treed, and they fought 

 fiercely when cornered. When playing and leaping 

 about each other, they uttered low harsh grunts, and 

 we never heard any other utterance. The Mexicans 

 delight to hunt these Coati Mondis, treeing them with 

 dogs, and killing them with revolvers. They work 

 themselves up to a high pitch of excitement, shout- 

 ing, as a kind of hunting-cry, ^'Adios Tejonf" — the 

 latter word beings the Mexican name of the animal. 



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