GC1Y0TD Coati Tracking (Traditional Cache) in Arizona, United States created by Mindfulness

This cache has been archived.

Mindfulness: There is a break in the series.

GC1Y0TD ▼

A cache by Mindfulness Message this owner

Hidden : 8/30/2009

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Don’t forget to get the number under the top cover to find the
Wildlife Linkages Tracking Challenge.

Coati - pronounced co-AH-tee
This picture was taken a couple hundred feet south of where the cache is located.

This is one of 6 animal tracking caches (plus one more) that is placed on tracking, which are:
- - - Bear Tracking, Mountain Lion Tracking, Bobcat Tracking, Wolf Tracking, Jaguar Tracking, & Coati Tracking.

You must sign the log or your find will be deleted.

Park: You can park across the street but it is safer to park at N 31 40.375 W 110 56.368; which is only 700 feet away from the cache. Please be careful on the street near the cache as it is a corner.

Wildlife Linkages Program, run by Sky Island Alliance, looks for routes Mountain Lions, Bobcats, Bears, Wolves, Jaguars, and Coatis take when they go from one mountain range to another. The mountain ranges are linked by the routes these animals take. The routes (linkages) are found by looking for the animals' tracks in washes between the mountain ranges. Read more at: Sky Island Alliance http://www.skyislandalliance.org/wildlife.htm. At Sky Island Alliance, we go out and identify animal tracks, we don’t track the animal.

Coati Info

picture by Mindfulness

Size – Coatis weigh 8 to 10 pounds (lbs).
Range (where they live) – Coatis live in southern Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Food (diet) – Coatis live on small animals like grubs, worms, lizards, and snakes.
Population (how many are there?) – Not known.
Life span (how long do they live?) – Coatis live 7 to 8 years in the wild.
Other information – Coatis are in the raccoon family and are very social. They are diurnal which means they are active mostly in the morning and late afternoon, spend the night in trees or caves and raise their young in tree holes and sometimes holes in the ground. Coatis' rear feet can turn around and face backwards. This allows them to go down a tree headfirst while their rear feet are turned around and holding them from falling. They like to stay near cover so they cannot be seen.

Coati Print



<----Coati front print
(track is not the real size)
Real size is 2 1/4 to 3 1/4 inches long and
1 1/4 to almost 2 inches wide.
Coatis have 5 toes and you usually see the claw marks in the track.
Notice the distance between the toe marks and the claw marks.

<---- Coati rear print
(track is not the real size)
Real size is 2 5/8 to 3 inches long and
1 3/8 to 2 inches wide.
Notice how long the toe marks are.

Coati Stencils

There is one stencil for the front foot and one stencil for the rear foot.
You can trace the tracks and take only the paper. You might have to bring your own paper.

Read more about coatis at:
    Coati Wickipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coati
    Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum - http://www.desertmuseum.org/books/nhsd_procyonids.html
    Iwokrama Mammals - http://www.iwokrama.org/mammals/guides/carn2.html

There is a 7th cache called Wildlife Linkages Tracking Challenge.
Don’t forget to get the number in each animal cache under the top cover
to find the Wildlife Linkages Tracking Challenge.