Wonders of the Animal Kingdom - Or how to eat everything in the animal kingdom according to a kids' sticker book.

I've been wanting to get back to this blog for a while. I have a lot of new things to post but would rather feed them out gradually over time than posting them all at once and then having another lull in posting to this blog.

Just a couple of days ago i was killing some time in an antique store in south-ish Florida and came across an old animal book titled "Wonder of the Animal Kingdom" (sorry...didn't look at all the who published/illustrated info).

The book was like a sticker book where you would collect dozens of different kinds of animal stickers and put them in the book in a space for the sticker next to the corresponding animal.

Of course I had to thumb through it to see if there was any mention of a coati.

There was.

Awesome.

Then I read the little blurb describing the coatimundi next to the sticker and my face went blank at the last sentence..."Its snout it large and its meat has an excellent flavor."

Wait...whaaat? "...its meat has an excellent flavor"?

Then I read the blurb above it about "119. The Hog" which stated in the last sentence about that particular animal that "All meat from this domestic animal should be thoroughly cooked before it is eaten."

After a couple more pages of similarly weird descriptions of animals I put the book back in its place under a bunch of other books that no one will probably ever buy and walked off.

Here are the cover of the book and the sticker and blurb about the coati.

Thanks for continuing to read the blog despite the massive gap in posts and I look forward to sharing more awesome things about my absolute favorite animal...the coatimundi.

Snookum Bears on a Rampage!

Originally titled "They Want That-A-Way" and distributed by Universal International, this 1948 Castle film (they're the people that did all the old-school news and informational short film 'reels' from way back before television), was described as 'a trio of bears romping around the great outdoors'. In 1951, the errors of it being a trio and of it containing coatis instead of bears was mentioned in the 'oops-we-goofed' section of their catalog. "The coati is so cute we re-christened him 'Snookum Bear'. The film never really got any traction when it was released theatrically in 1949. So here now is a look at an amazing little short film about four coatis who take up residence on cowboy's ranch and cause a tiny bit of a disturbance in the process. Found via the blog, The Coati Kids

The most adorable heist ever!

A small troupe of coatis pull off the most adorable heist ever in someone's villa at the Banyan Tree Resort in Acapulco.

Coati kept in disgusting conditions, bites owner, gets euthanized.

Another reason that certain people need to take an aptitude test to become a pet owner. This story, coming out of CBS in Arizona, is another sad example of an animal who could've had an amazing life but is instead subjected to an idiot owner. While I'm not a crazy animal rights advocate? I DO believe that if you harm children and animals who don't have much of a choice in the matter? Eye for an eye. This animal could've lived out its entire life happy but because of this individual's negligence, this animal is put down. Maybe the woman should be forced to wear a too-small harness for the next decade as punishment. I deeply apologize for my venting. It's not something I do regularly unless someone's stupidity results in the loss of an innocent life. (slides soapbox back under the bed...goes to make some nice, relaxing tea) I'll make it up to you with a happier post soon. How do YOU feel about this?

Dental Care for Coatis

Animals don't brush their teeth. (looks around the room) Okay. Good. No objections to that. As they reach the later stages in life that can sometimes become an issue. For those that are curious about dental care for the coati? Who would've thought that the Smithsonian National Zoological Park would offer, on their site, how to care for of all things, a coatis teeth? Well they do offer just that. Follow the dental exam of a 14-year-old coati named Jazz as she goes through the process. Very cool that this information is available online for those that work with or own (which I don't condone)a coatimundi. National Zoo veterinarians treat the severe dental problems of an old coati named Jazz.

Coati and Raccoon: Cousins Holding Hands

I want to thank Carol Patterson of Kalahari Management Inc for posting this awesome video of a raccoon and a coatimundi hanging out together! Coatimundi are sometimes referred to as the 'South American version of the Raccoon' (I'd LOVE to get DNA testing done and compare the coati DNA against a bear to see how much closer THOSE animals are than some of the other critters lumped into the coati family). The raccoon in the video is obviously a juvenile who's a little skittish and new to being on his own. What Carol points out that's interesting is that this is a male coati which are supposed to be solitary. In my own experience as well as some field reports I've read, male coati are pretty lax about who hangs with them after they're no longer needed as part of the troop. Most of the time a troop of coati seem to be as dynamic as a human family. Coati family units don't always follow scientific papers and their 'organize this in box A and this in box B' mentality. This video sort of shows that. The coatimundi doesn't seem to mind the raccoon just hanging around. The little raccoon, however, seems to value the security the coati is providing like he's found an older cousin from the other side of town to hang with in this new neighborhood. This little raccoon is VERY nervous and the bond that's developed is an awesome testament that animals are more like little people in furry costumes than we give them credit for. Thanks again for sharing this, Carol!

The Search for Charlie Crowfoot and the Coatimundi continues...

  My mission to get a viewable copy of 'Charlie Crowfoot and the Coatimundi' continues.
  Having $99 dollars would probably help at this point.  Apparently the film is available on a 'Disney Treasures Collection' DVD!  When an extra one hundred dollar bill lands in my lap, I'm going to have to continue my hunt for a cheaper version of this film.
  During Christmas I received a very cool gift from someone who truly 'gets' my love for coatis.  The last gift I was handed to open was a very light, very flat object about the size of a standard sheet of typing paper.  After removing the bow, carefully peeling off the wrapping paper and separating two flat rigid piece of shipping cardboard used for photos, I was elated to see an old black-and-white glossy print of a photo of a coati perched on a metal bar.  The tagline on the bottom of the photo got me even more excited...'The Wonderful World of Disney - Charlie Crowfoot and the Coati Mundi'!
  Amazing!
  It's a piece of promotional material used to promote the film.
  Below you'll find two high-resolution images of the front and back of the photo.
  While I have yet to see the film, I quietly love not being able to afford it right now.  It's not always about the end of the race, it's most definitely about the journey.
   Hopefully you'll enjoy following along as this blog continues and I uncover more and more cool things that coatis have managed to get themselves into.
  Thanks for your continued support of this blog and enjoy the photos!