Raleigh police find owner of stray white-nosed coati. First, here’s what it is.
Raleigh police said Wednesday they have located the owner of a stray white-nosed coati.
The Raleigh Police Department posted a message Tuesday night that the critter was found in the 400 block of Dickens Drive, which is in a neighborhood off New Bern Avenue, not far from Enloe High School.
But first, let’s back up. Let’s explain what a white-nosed coati is.
The animal is a member of the raccoon family that typically takes up residence in the warmer climates of Arizona, New Mexico, Florida and South America, according to the National Park Service.
Unlike it’s trash-eating relatives — that’s the common raccoon — the white-nosed coati has a long snout with a white band around it. That flexible snout helps it dig for food. Its preferred diet, according to the National Park Service, includes snakes and lizards, but also, “nuts, berries or bird eggs in trees.”
Those trees may (emphasis on may) explain why the Raleigh white-nosed coati was in the area. Several scientific sources note they like oak and pine trees, of which Raleigh has plenty.
Raleigh Police said the animal had been taken to an exotic veterinarian on a five-day consecutive stray hold.
Wild animal policy
The appearance of the white-nosed coati comes at a time when the City of Raleigh is considering implementing a new policy that would ban or regulate “dangerous wild animals.” The policy debate came after a venomous zebra cobra escaped in a northwest Raleigh neighborhood in summer 2021.
While the snake was caught without harm, residents were scared at the prospect of the animal, and the owner’s other exotic snakes, living nearby.
The city defines “dangerous wild animal” as a “non-domesticated species normally found in the wild that are ‘inherently dangerous’ to people or property,” The News & Observer reported.
That could include lions, tigers and cheetahs, wolves and certain venomous snakes.
Staff writer Anna Johnson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 7:50 PM.