Panama, August 2023
An easy going trip staying at Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge only. The expected mammals seen plus highlights for me being Water Opossum (Yapok), Northern Tamandua and lesser Capybara.
John Wright
Panama August 2023
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4 Comments
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JohnWright
Hi Paul,
Thanks for that. You are correct I was going on info from other reports etc but didn’t check iNat and to be fair John Van Niel did say he thought they looked more like Northern Racoons than Crab-eating. Have you any idea what species the racoons at Punta Culebra are? They are reported to be Crab-eating Racoons.
Cheers
John-
Paul Carter
Hi Jon. All the iNat records at Punta Culebra are Common Raccoon. I recall reading in a field guide that the 2 species do not coexist closely. I think all past records there of Crab-eating are mistaken ID and are Common Raccoons. Sorry for my slow reply; I forgot to follow this post and any comments. Cheers, Paul
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Paul Carter
Hi John.
Regarding the ID of the Raccoon in Panama City as Crab-eating note that ALL the many iNat records in Panama city are shown as Common and not Crab-eating Raccoon. But many mammal reports in the past reported them as Crab-eating Raccoon (and even as abundant). I suspect this is a case of mistaken ID based on past trip reports with mistaken ID. FYI some of the iNat records in this area now refer to subspecies Isthmian Raccoon (Procyon lotor pumilusare). I suggest that anyone who reported the Raccoons here as Crab-eating should review their IDs and anyone who has a definitive photo of Crab-eating Raccoon (hair on nape points forward) in Panama City should post it on iNat. Perhaps there were Crab-eating Raccoon here in the past and they have been pushed out or there has only ever been Common Raccoon here.
Paul