Coatimundi, Flood flies and Jackfruit

the racoon-like coatimundi

We have a new exotic animal to introduce to you. It isn’t one that we have as a pet, although we do have some wild ones in the bush around the house. Our neighbor has one that originally was a pet, until it reached maturity and attacked her. Now it stays in a large pen outside. Brad likes to go and pet it, but since it doesn’t like women, I stay away from it.

Some interesting facts:

Adult coatis measure 33 to 69 cm (13 to 27 in) from head to the base of the tail, which can be as long as their bodies. Coatis are about 30 cm (12 in) tall at the shoulder, and weigh between 3 and 8 kg (6.6 and 18 lb), about the size of a large housecat. Males can become almost twice as large as females and have large, sharp canine teeth.

All coatis share a slender head with an elongated, flexible, slightly upward-turned nose, small ears, dark feet, and a long, non-prehensile tail used for balance and signaling.

Coatis have bear- and raccoon-like paws, and coatis, raccoons, and bears walk plantigrade (on the soles of the feet, as do people). Coatis have non-retractable claws. Coatis also have in common with raccoons and other procyonids (and others in the order Carnivora and rare cases amongst other mammals) double-jointed and ankles rotatable beyond 180° and therefore the ability to descend trees head-first. Other animals living in forests have acquired some or all of these properties through convergent evolution, including members of the mongoose, civet, ferret-skunk, cat, and bear families. Some of these animals walk on the toes of the front paws and soles of the back paws.

The coati snout is long and somewhat pig-like and extremely flexible and can be rotated up to 60° in any direction, the former being part of the reason for its nickname the hog-nosed raccoon. The nose is utilized to push objects and rub parts of their body.

Unlike most members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), coatis are primarily diurnal. Coati females and young males up to 2 years of age are gregarious and travel through their territories in noisy, loosely-organized bands made up of 4 to 25 individuals, foraging with their offspring on the ground or in the forest’s canopy. Males over 2 years become solitary due to behavioural disposition and collective aggression from the females, and will join the female groups only during the breeding season.

When provoked, or for defense, coatis can be fierce fighters: their strong jaws, sharp canine teeth, and fast scratching paws, along with a tough hide sturdily attached to the underlying muscles, make it very difficult for predators (e.g., dogs, jaguars) to seize the small mammal.

Coatis communicate their intentions or moods with chirping, snorting, or grunting sounds. Different chirping sounds are used to express joy during social grooming, appeasement after fights, or to convey irritation or anger. Snorting while digging, along with an erect tail, states territorial or food claims during foraging.

Coatis additionally use special postures or moves to convey simple messages; for example, hiding the nose between the front paws as a sign for submission; lowering the head, baring teeth, and jumping at an enemy signal an aggressive disposition.

Coatis’ breeding season mainly corresponds with the start of the rainy season to coincide with maximum availability of food, especially fruits: between January and March in some areas, and between October and February in others. During the breeding season, an adult male is accepted into the band of females and juveniles near the beginning of the breeding season, leading to a polygynous mating system.

The pregnant females separate from the group, build a nest on a tree or in a rocky niche and, after a gestation period of about 11 weeks, give birth to litters of 3 to 7 young. About six weeks after birth, the females and their young will rejoin the band. Females become sexually mature at 2 years of age, while males will acquire sexual maturity at 3 years of age. Members of the coati band will follow the pregnant female and eat the young that are born

Brad adds that they can swiftly strip the poisonous spines off a tarantula and eat it.

Flood Flies

Well the adventures never end around here. Rainy season has started and it has brought the flood flies with it. These little bugs come in the twilight on evenings after the first big rains. They are  termites with 4 wings that try to get into your house. They don’t seem to hurt anything, but they leave a big mess because as soon as they land, they drop their wings and start crawling all over the place looking for soft wood to burrow into. Our kitchen counters and floors were covered in wings this morning – but no sign of any flood flies. The ants seem fairly fond of them, so we had to clean them up right away. We didn’t have as many in the house as the previous owners. We saw a video they took of the swarm that came last year, and ours were nothing like that (you can watch the video from in the link posted above). We also knew that this was an annual event so we have spent many hours sealing up all the cracks around the doors and windows and in the roof to keep them out. The ones that got in this time must have come in through the window frames. Another job for Brad.

Jack Fruit

We had our first taste of jackfruit the other day.  We have a tree in the orchard, but it is not mature yet (I guess they take up to 40 years!). Our neighbor has a huge amount of them and doesn’t like them so we thought we better try it out since our other neighbor says they are his favorite fruit. No small claim considering the amount of different fruits we can get here.

Anyway, jackfruit is an amazing food. You can eat almost every part of it and each part tastes different.

Here’s some info about it:

The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus or A. heterophylla^[1]) is a species of tree in the mulberry family (Moraceae), which is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh.

It is well suited to tropical lowlands. Its fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world^[2], Reaching 80 pounds (36 kg) in weight and up to 36 inches (90 cm) long and 20 inches (50 cm) in diameter^[3],

The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. Archeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago.

The actual “fruit” is a round orange colored bulb that is surrounded by many stringy white fibres, and inside each fruit is a large seed – as big as a brazil nut.

The orange fruit has the consistency and taste of juicy fruit gum, according to Brad. These can be eaten raw or dehydrated to make chips. The fruit has Vitamin A, C, Riboflavin, magnesium, potassium, copper, manganese and some protein.

The seeds would give you around 135 kcal/ 100 gms. It is a rich source of complex carbohydrate, dietary fiber, vitamins like vitamin A, C and certain B vitamins, and minerals like calcium, zinc, and phosphorous. They contain lignans, isoflavones, saponins, that are called phytonutrients and their health benefits are wide-ranging from anti-cancer to antihypertensive, anti-ageing, antioxidant, anti-ulcer, etc. Jackfruit seed powder has the ability to relieve discomfort due to indigestion. Boiled Jackfruit seeds are a very tasty and nutritious snack. Boiled Jackfruit seeds can be used as an alternative to potatoes. Jackfruit seeds, which appeal to all tastes, may be boiled or roasted and eaten, or boiled and preserved in syrup like chestnuts. They can be canned in brine, in curry, and, like baked beans, in tomato sauce. They can also be included in curried dishes. Roasted, dried seeds are ground to make flour which is blended with wheat flour for baking.

The white stringy inside have the consistency of noodles or cooked chicken. They are often used as a meat substitute in many Indian and Asian recipes.

It takes a lot of work to get all the food value out of the jackfruit. It has very sticky sap inside, so you need to put oil on your hands and the knife before you get started.

Then we cut the fruit into quarters, and cut out the middle core that the strings are attached to.

Using your fingers, you get under each fruit and separate the strings from it, and pull it out of the stringy area

Do this until you get them all out, Then get the seeds out of the fruit and remove the protective layer on the seeds.

Cut the stringy part away from the green outer rind.

the racoon-like coatimundi

delicious stirfry noodles

They look similar to breadfruit – but bigger

Notice the sticky white sap, as bad as melted marshmellow

Cutting out the core for easier removal of fruit

get hold of the fruit and pull

you have to get under the stringy fibres

this is the fruit part

these are the seeds

delicious stirfry noodles

I made a whole meal from the different parts of the jackfruit! A nice veggie stirfry with  BBQ “chicken” and topped with slivered “chestnuts” I plan to try making butter “chicken” next, and we are going to make our own dehrdrator so we can start making dried fruits and fruit leathers from this abundance of fruit.

to make the noodles – I boiled the stringy flesh in sea salted water for 15 minutes, then put into a frying pan with sesame oil, garlic and onion, then stirred it a bit and added peppers, tomato and carrots. A splash of Braggs Aminos finished it off.

The “chicken” was made by marinating an unripe jackfruit both the fruit and the white strings in BBQ sauce for 1 hour and then cooking for 30 minutes until it got tender.

The Seeds were boiled in salted water for 20 minutes and then cooled in cold water, cut in half and then peeled to get off the hard outer shell.

Yes, this is an all afternoon project, but we managed to feed 8 people from just 2 jackfruits!