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The most impressive part of this photo is that it was taken with a 22mm lens; this white-nosed coati (Nasua narica) was only about six feet away from me (and ignoring me completely). Taken just outside the ruins of Tulum, which allows me to say that I’ve been to the delightfully named state of Quintana Roo, Mexico.

White-nosed coatis are locally known as coatimundi, pizote, antoon, and tejón. They are a little smaller than domestic cats, with the males being much larger than the females. They live in forests throughout Central America, and have been accidentally introduced into Florida because humans are like that.

Coati are omnivorous, preferring fruit, small animals, carrion, insects, snakes, and eggs. They can and do climb trees, but spend most of their time foraging at ground level. Like their relatives, raccoons, they coexist well with humans and raid garbage cans and camp sites.