Posted by Gerry Binczik on May 11, 2002 at 20:08:08:
In Reply to: wild coati, and its risk of being rabid posted by reichlin on February 23, 2002 at 15:56:28:
This post probably comes far too late to do you any good (I just found this forum), but maybe it will help the next person in a similar situation...
Wild coatis can become quite bold when accustomed to close human presence, especially in the near vicinity of something they really want (like water during a drought, or food trash anytime!). Rabies is sometimes called hydrophobia (= "fear of water") because afflicted animals are to some extent incapable of drinking, so the animal you are seeing does not have this disease if it is drinking from your pond. Probably it is merely water-stressed and taking advantage of your largess. My advice is to avoid confrontations with it, relax and enjoy your relatively uncommon opportunity to observe one of these interesting animals.
Gerry
