Tag: Nature Conservancy

At Ramsey Canyon I watched a band of about eight coatis move through the trees, then down the canyon, then up and out of view. I love watching them on the move, with their magnificent tails held high to signal their whereabouts to the others in the band. They are raccoon relatives, but active during the day and somewhat tolerant of human presence, so more likely to be seen than raccoons. They are superlative scrapers and diggers. Check out those claws in the bottom photo. 

White-nosed coatis (Nasua narica) at Ramsey Canyon Preserve, Cochise County, Arizona. 

Coues deer at Ramsey Canyon. 

Coues are an elfin subspecies of whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi), with ears and tails that seem disproportionately big relative to their small body size. In other words, they are adorable. The deer at the Ramsey Canyon preserve are entirely habituated to human presence, and they barely look up from their grazing.