Can you translate "pescata?"  Friends traveling in Costa Rica this
winter saw an animal the locals called "pescota"  --could be a
different spelling (pescotta?  pescata?)  They spotted it in the
evening, before sunset, in the area around Monteverde.  They said it
looked like a big cat with a really long tail, that walked like a
racoon. I haven't been able to find an animal called anything close to
that.  Can you figure out what it might have been?

---

Clarification of Question by cornellian-ga on 07 Jul 2005 06:06 PDT

Hi pinkfreud--

This is a great answer!  Thanks!  Please post as an answer so I can pay & tip you.

Thanks for accepting my suggestion. As I mentioned above, I believe it
is likely that the animal in question was a coati or coatimundi, also
called a "pizote." These are fascinating creatures. I once spent some
time with a domesticated coati, and he was one of the most charming
critters I've ever encountered. In behavior they are much like
raccoons: curious, intelligent, and a bit irritable when they don't
get their way. Maybe the reason I find this animal so attractive is
because its characteristics remind me of myself. ;-)

MagnerGraphix: Coatimundi
http://www.magnergraphix.com/ScubaPics/landpix/Coatimundi.JPG

Rain Forest Tours: Coatimundi
http://www.rainforesttours.com/photoalbum/matthanly1%20.jpg

Natural Photos: Coatimundi
http://www.naturalphotos.com/sekercioglu/costa_rica/images/CR3-Mont-COAT.jpg

Wikipedia: Pizote
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizote

Google Image Search: "pizote"
http://images.google.com/images?q=pizote

Google Web Search: coatimundi "costa rica"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=coatimundi+%22costa+rica%22

I hope this is helpful!

Very best regards,
pinkfreud

From your description, my best guess is that the animal was a coatimundi.

http://www.magnergraphix.com/ScubaPics/landpix/Coatimundi.JPG

http://www.rainforesttours.com/photoalbum/matthanly1%20.jpg

http://www.naturalphotos.com/sekercioglu/costa_rica/images/CR3-Mont-COAT.jpg

If the animal in question was indeed a coatimundi, the word used by
the locals may have been "pizote" (pronounced approximately as
"pee-SOH-tay").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizote

Please let me know if this would be a fully satisfactory answer to your question.

Many additional photos may be found with the use of Google Images:

http://images.google.com/images?q=pizote

One day we should ask about the animals in Pinkfreud-ga's life: 3 dogs
and a coati just yesterday.  ;)

Thanks for the five stars and the nice tip!

~pinkfreud