Coati are widely distributed in Mexico, Central America to west Columbia and Ecuador. In the United States, they only regularly occur in Arizona. The following describes the Arizona species which have quite different life-styles than those in South America. What Do They Eat Coati show considerable preference for certain foods and are fairly discriminating eaters. Turning over rocks and logs to find small rodents, lizards, snakes, scorpions, insects and grubs, coatis' diet consist of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Coati are diurnal and forage from dusk to dawn.
Adult males live apart from the band and hunt independently. Bands of 5 to 20 coati consists of adult females and juveniles, living in truly communal manner, foraging, playing, sleeping together, grooming and helping each other out as they travel around their home range. They signal alarms, pleasure, anger, even communicate where they are and what they're doing. In early spring, one male will establish dominance over rival males in the area and attempt to join the communal band. At this time, females become more tolerant of adult males, and the dominant one gradually wins his way into the band by grooming its members ad behaving submissively.