Mongoose. Description of the animal, where it lives, what it eats, life cycle

Classification

View: Mongoose (Herpestes)

Family: Viverridae

Subfamily: Mongoose

Squad: Predatory

Class: Mammals

Type: Chordata

Subtype: Vertebrates

Kingdom: Animals

Dimensions: body length: 20-75 cm; body weight: from 1.5 to 6 kg

Lifespan: from 6 to 8 years in nature, in captivity - up to 12 years

Mongooses rarely use snakes as food. However, if a reptile threatens their life, they will definitely fight it.

The mongoose is a collective animal. The animals unite in groups and live as one family. Their main food is insects. In part, these predators lead wood image life.

In India, the animal is often kept as a hunter of snakes and rodents that live in houses. However, contrary to popular belief, mongooses are not immune to reptile venom. They are simply less susceptible to it.

And if the mongoose can still fight with a small snake, then either he will not win.

Mongooses can quickly exterminate all mice and rats in the house

Habitat

In modern times, the mongoose's habitat covers some areas of Africa, Asia and South-Western Europe.

Since ancient times, he has chosen the east of the Arabian Peninsula as his place of residence. The animal is also found in the territories of countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Their acclimatization quickly took place in India (Jamaica) and Hawaii. The animal was even brought to Italy.

All this was done so that he, being an excellent hunter, would exterminate snakes and rodents. However, there the mongooses multiplied greatly and began to destroy animals that benefit people.

Domestic small animals have also been attacked more than once by these agile predators. Such circumstances led to a ban on the import of mongooses into the territory of many countries, but this did not prevent the remaining animals from continuing to reproduce.

They easily adapt to different conditions: animals can settle in a semi-desert with an overgrown carpet of shrubs, or in humid tropical forests, where herbaceous plants will reliably hide them from prying eyes.

Mongooses dig holes in the sand or build homes at the roots of trees. Some species live in low hollows

Characteristic

The very extensive mongoose family includes as many as 35 species, grouped into 14 genera. The most famous of them are the following individuals.

1. The common mongoose or Indian mungo (Herpestes edwardsii) has light gray fur interspersed with silver. The animal’s habitat is Africa, Asia (West Indies, Burma) and the southwestern part of Europe (Italy).
2. Javan mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) is gray or golden brown in color. It is found from northern India to southern China. Distributed on the islands of Java, Borneo, Sumatra.
3. Striped mongoose or mungo (Mungos mungo) - it is also called zebra. It comes in both whitish and brown colors. The animal’s homeland is southern and central Africa (Gambia).
4. Yellow or fox-shaped mongoose (Cynictis penicillata) - has a color that depends on the distribution area of ​​​​the animal. Individuals living closer to the south are endowed with reddish fur mixed with yellow, while those living to the north are yellow-gray. Their homeland is South Africa.
5. Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula) – has a gray or brown color. Among them there are completely black individuals. Found in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Interesting! Regardless of what a mongoose looks like and what species it belongs to, when in danger it always makes sounds similar to a loud growl, sneezing and even purring.

This animal prefers to build its home near any source of fresh water.

Appearance

Some people don't have a clear idea of ​​what a mongoose looks like. The weight of an adult varies between 1.5-6 kg.

It is worth noting that there are many different different types, differing in terms of color and body structure. Most often, their fur is a solid gray or brownish color.

However, there are species that have yellowish-brown, gray-greenish and light silver colors. Individuals, and sometimes even young, have a pattern of rings on their tail.

Some animals have stripes of varying sizes all over their bodies. Mongoose fur can be soft or hard, long or short. Its structure and length make it possible to determine the type of animal.

The animal's head is small, and its muzzle has a pointed shape. The predator's ears are also small, rounded and almost invisible. The body of the animal is elongated and moderately thin.

It ends in a long and fluffy tail, which is larger than the mongoose itself. The short legs of the animal are often painted in dark colors.

Interesting! The mongoose is often called the "pharaoh's rat." The fact is that these animals were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. They were embalmed and buried with full honors.

The mongoose's eye has a very unusual pupil - horizontal. This makes his gaze cunning and insightful

Key Features

Nimble mongooses are mainly diurnal and sleep at night, however, here everything again depends on the species.

The animal’s hole is invisible to surrounding eyes, since it always tries to disguise the entrance there. Animals usually hunt within their home (within a radius of up to 1 km). They have the following qualities important for a predator:

• sharp eyesight and a keen sense of smell, but as for hearing, the animal’s hearing is weak by nature, but this does not prevent it from hunting;
• fantastic speed, as well as resourcefulness (their reaction speed is one of the highest in the animal world);
• a special strategy for conducting a battle (no matter who is in front of him - the enemy or the victim - the mongoose discourages everyone with its sharp attacks);
• thick and dense fur, which can protect the animal’s body from snake bites (in particular, cobras);
• long and sharp claws and teeth capable of causing serious injury or damage to the enemy;
• the ability to emit a sharp unpleasant odor emanating from special glands at the anus, which often saves animals from danger.

Interesting! The natural agility, as well as the extraordinary maneuverability of these animals, led the Russian armed forces to the idea of ​​​​creating a high-speed boat, called the Mongoose. It first appeared in 2000.

A cunning animal often waits for its stronger victim to finally exhaust all its strength to attack. After that, he himself goes on the attack.

Nutrition

All mongooses are divided into groups (20-25 individuals each). Usually they build themselves one common dwelling, which can have several entrances.

Members of the same group recognize each other by a special smell. Vocal contact is carried out between them through whistling, shouting and other sounds.

The animal's diet includes:

• fruits and berries (they can eat both animal and plant foods, collecting);
• insects, as well as their larvae (animals find them by examining grass hummocks and piles of fallen leaves);
• small reptiles and amphibians (there is even a special type of mongoose that feeds on crabs);
• chicks and bird eggs (the animal got used to breaking their shells on nearby stones);
• large reptiles (sometimes these are snakes, which mongooses hunt in flocks and less often alone, which can be seen in the photo below).

While some members of the group are feeding, a couple of others are sure to monitor their surroundings. When an enemy appears, they inform the others about it.

Mongooses' enemies are jackals, snakes and birds of prey.

Having heard a signal notifying of an impending threat, the animals instantly disappear into shelters: between the roots of trees, in rock crevices or minks dug specially for such an occasion.

Interesting! Mongooses brought to America by humans were not agile enough to cope with the rattlesnakes that plagued local farmers. In terms of reaction, reptiles acted faster than small predators.

Mongooses try not to attack king cobras, however, if a fight does take place, they will fight to the last

Reproduction

With the beginning of the mating season, strong competition arises between male mongooses. Each group always has a leader who marks all its members, as well as the boundaries of his territory, with the secretion of the anal glands.

He has the unconditional right to mate with any female. As for other mongooses, according to their behavior they can be divided into 2 types.

The first type is dominant. Such males behave aggressively towards relatives who are trying to capture the attention of females, and mate with them themselves.

These individuals are focused on procreation. The second type of mongoose is forced to be content with free females in the group. They pay special attention to caring for their offspring.

Mongooses need sufficient food and water to reproduce. As soon as they feel that food supplies will last for a long time, they prepare to breed.

After a short mating ritual and repeated mating, the female begins to wait for the cubs to be born.

Before giving birth, she covers her nest with dry herbs. After 2 months, babies are born (usually 3-4 cubs per litter). It's amazing what a newly born mongoose looks like.

Although babies are deprived of sight and hearing, they are already equipped with sharp claws. The crumbs weigh about 20 g.

They spend the first weeks of their lives with their mother, feeding on her milk, in a hole underground, and by the month they begin to get out of there.

Animals living in humid areas have offspring much more often than their relatives living in dry areas.

Raising offspring

As soon as the cubs emerge from the burrow, they almost immediately begin to eat solid food. At the age of 2 weeks, babies acquire sight and hearing, so all they have to do is learn to hunt.

Adult members of the group sometimes bring food to the cubs, and female mongooses feed milk not only to their own, but also to other people’s “children.”

Interesting! These animals raise their babies all together. Upon reaching 3-4 months, the young animal acquires a patron who takes care of it for a certain time and teaches it the necessary skills. This way, the younger generation in the group is provided with reliable care.

At 5 months, the young animal no longer needs mother's milk. Then feeding stops. The female mongoose reaches sexual maturity at 9 months, and the male only at one year. Few animals survive to the age when they can have offspring, since they have many enemies.

Grown mongooses usually leave their group for neighboring ones, where they then produce offspring.

Thus, these small predators are not threatened with degeneration due to inbreeding. Wildlife lovers often manage to take photos of animals from an interesting angle.

Mongooses easily adapt to life in a zoo and are able to reproduce in captivity

In India, the animal has long been domesticated. Some entrepreneurs in this country create special nurseries where mongooses are bred.

Their grown cubs are sold there. If you want to take a small predator into your home, you need to know some points about its content.

1. A mongoose needs a spacious cage. The animal cannot sit for a long time in a cramped and confined space. He gets bored there.
2. Inside the cage you need to create the appropriate environment: place a couple of driftwood, put a ball or some other toy, put a tray for the mongoose’s needs.
3. The animal is unpretentious in food. He can be given meat, fish, raw eggs, cottage cheese, vegetables and fruits. It is better to make the diet varied, combining animal and plant foods.
4. To observe what a mongoose looks like during a hunt, sometimes you can bring a mouse, cockroach or frog into its cage. In this case, you should not experiment with snakes.

Interesting! Mongooses became famous among people after the publication of R. Kipling’s story “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”, where main character- mongoose - subsequently saved the child and his entire family from cobras.

The mongoose is easily tamed, responding with affection to the care and love of its owner.

Relationships with people

Baby mongooses get used to people faster than adults. The latter will need some time to establish contact with the person.

At first, the animal may even use its teeth and claws. Do not forget that this is a predator, albeit a small one, and you need to behave carefully with it.

Another inconvenience that a mongoose can cause to its owner is a specific smell, just like that of a mongoose, which the animal emits thanks to its scent glands. He also likes to mark his territory.

You need to get used to this and not scold your pet without a significant reason.

Sometimes the animal can be released from the cage to frolic a little. This way the owner will see what the mongoose looks like in the game.

However, under no circumstances should he be left unattended: he is capable of chewing furniture, digging up the lawn, breaking something, and even running away.

Mongooses are very smart animals. They are able to make the right decision after studying the situation.

Interesting! Scientists conducted a study that proved that mongooses produce sounds similar to human speech at the stage of its formation.

In general, the animal gives a lot of positive emotions, responding to calls and climbing into your arms, which makes it an excellent pet.

Mongoose: Fearless Snake Hunter

The mongoose is a predatory animal. It can bring both benefit, killing poisonous snakes, and harm, exterminating small domestic animals.

Such an animal as the Mongoose became known to many thanks to the popular film adaptation, after watching which some people want to have such a fascinating pet.

In a large number of countries, the domestic mongoose is a common pet, just like our dog or cat. In most cases, representatives such as the yellow or striped mongoose become domesticated.

However, before purchasing this exotic animal, you need to reconsider the correctness of such an idea.

Pros and cons of mongoose at home

Before you adopt a domestic mongoose as your pet, you need to study some information about the characteristics of this animal in order to provide it with everything it needs. If you live in an apartment and all you can offer the animal is a small cage, you should understand that the pet will not be active and will constantly be sad. As a result, the animal may develop some disease. To avoid this, the animal needs to equip a fairly large cage of 2 * 1 * 0.5 m. It is necessary to provide the mongoose’s home with a large branch, the length of which will be from the bottom to the top of the cage, it is also necessary to equip a house for the pet, provide a plate for food and a drinking bowl.

It is imperative to let your pet mongoose out of its cage so that it can play and jump. However, this should only be done under supervision, since a mongoose at home, due to its curiosity, can easily cause a complete pogrom in the apartment. He is quite capable of damaging furniture, breaking dishes, or even escaping altogether. To avoid this, you need to set aside time every day to play with this fascinating pet.

The mongoose is a pet that has a special smell, which is also quite important factor in his home contents. The animal has glands that are located in the anus and on the face, and emit a special smell. Animals tend to mark their territory, so a specific smell in the apartment can be easily felt.

You should take into account the fact that the mongoose is a wild animal, so it does not behave like dogs or cats, and it may well scratch and bite if it doesn’t like something.

Places to purchase

Since the mongoose is an exotic animal, it is not so easy to buy in the CIS countries. You can contact professional breeders, or visit pet stores. Before purchasing a pet, you should definitely look at what the animal looks like to make sure that there is no disease. It is also necessary to check that the animal has all the necessary vaccinations.

Features of the mongoose diet

• Not fatty meats.
• Raw fish.
• Cottage cheese.
• Snails.
• Vegetables and fruits.
• Zoophobus and other insects.
• Giblets.
• Raw eggs.
• Small rodents.

Mongoose should not be given the following foods:

• Mayonnaise, ketchup and more.
• Salty.
• Chips.
• Fried.
• Smoked.

It is imperative to adhere to the amount of protein and carbohydrate foods, the parts of which should be equal. Feeding must be done twice a day, while protein foods, fruits and vegetables must be separated.

Mongoose ( Herpestidae) is a family of animals of the suborder Felidae, order Carnivores, infraclass Placentals, class Mammals, or Animals, subtype Vertebrates, type Chordata. It was isolated from the Viverridae family ( Viverridae) and became independent.

Mongooses differ from their “former relatives” in morphological, genetic and ecological characteristics, for example, the absence or reduction of membranes between the fingers, non-retractable claws, small rounded ears, and a predominantly diurnal and terrestrial lifestyle.

What a mongoose looks like: description and photo of the animal

Mongooses are small predators. They have a slender, elongated torso, small head and long tail. The length of their body without a tail ranges from 16 to 71 cm.

Tail The animal is cone-shaped (thick at the base and tapering towards the end), 19-47 cm long. As a rule, the mongoose's tail makes up two-thirds of the length of its body.

The animals weigh from 210 g to 7 kg (rarely up to 9 kg). Asian species are usually larger than African ones.

The smallest in the family is the dwarf mongoose ( Helogale parvula), with a body of 16-23 cm, a tail of 14-19 cm, weight - from 210 to 420 g.

The heaviest is the Egyptian mongoose, or ichneumon ( Herpestes ichneumon). An adult ichneumon weighs 7-9 kg.

Crabeater mongoose ( Herpestes urva) is the longest in the family. Its size including the tail reaches 85 cm.

But the white-tailed mongoose is considered the largest ( Ichneumia albicauda): the length of its body with head is 47-71 cm, the length of the tail is 35.5-47 cm, the height at the shoulders is about 25 cm, the weight reaches 1.8-5.2 kg.

Muzzle The mongoose is small, elongated, the ears are small and round.

The eyes of animals are light honey with horizontal, narrow, less often round pupils. The horizontal shape of the pupils is characteristic of herbivorous animals.

Representatives of this family can have from 32 to 40 teeth, their number depends on the species.

Legs The animals are short, five-fingered, with non-retractable, long, slightly curved and blunt claws. With the help of its claws, the mongoose digs underground passages, defends itself from enemies, and occasionally can climb trees.

All mongooses walk on their toes (digitate), the membrane between which is reduced or absent. Most mongooses stand on their hind legs and fully straighten their backs for a better view.

Wool The mongoose is rough, consists of fluff and hard long awn. Often it is colored gray or brown, less often it is brown, yellowish, black or red.

In addition, it can be plain, striped, gray or speckled. There are individuals with ring patterns on the tail. The stripes are usually located on the shoulders.

The color of the body often differs from the color of the limbs, tail or its tip. Thus, two species of Madagascar mongooses have longitudinal stripes on their backs, and the third has a striped tail. In the striped mongoose ( Herpestes vitticollis) in accordance with its name, there are dark transverse lines on the back.

Intraspecific color variations are possible. For example, a slender mongoose ( Galerella sanguinea), as a rule, gray or yellow-brown, and in the Kalahari Desert it is red in color; there are also black individuals. In India, on the islands of Java and Sumatra, there lives a dwarf mongoose with black fur with small yellow spots.

Mongooses, unlike viverrids, have anal rather than prianal scent glands. In many species they are a large sac with at least two holes. Males and females leave scent marks from their anal and cheek glands.

Animals have excellent vision, smell and hearing. In the water mongoose ( Atilax paludinosus) the sense of touch is also perfectly developed. The animals’ excellent reaction makes it easy to control their strong, flexible body and make lightning-fast throws.

Mongooses are very “chatty”; they make various sounds: squealing, growling, cackling, barking, purring, and abrupt high-pitched cries. Each of them has its own meaning. With sounds similar to cackling, the mongoose warns the attacker: “don’t touch me - it will be worse,” almost dog barking is a general alarm signal, abrupt high-pitched screams are the call sign for the cubs that lag behind.

Scientists from Switzerland have found that the “conversation” of striped mongooses ( Herpestes vitticollis) is very similar to human language in its development stage. Their “speech” contains vowels and consonants, and their combination carries a certain meaning. The first they pronounce is a consonant sound, which serves to identify who is speaking, the second is a vowel sound, conveying vital information to their relatives.

What does a mongoose eat in nature?

Most mongooses are predators, although there are also omnivorous species among them. Thanks to Rudyard Kipling, there is a widespread misconception that mongooses feed mainly on... However, snakes are not their main food at all. Although some species (especially the genus Herpestes) kill and eat poisonous snakes.

The mongoose and the cobra are bitter enemies, as the animal feeds on the eggs of the reptile. Therefore, fights between them are most often provoked by a snake rather than a mongoose. This is how she tries to protect her offspring.

As a result of long evolution, the mongoose has learned to fight against. He knows the nature of her attacks and responds to them with lightning speed. For example, the Indian mongoose bravely fights king cobras. He has no immunity to their poison; he wins due to his reaction speed. The animal manages to notice the beginning of the snake's attack and dodge its throw. The mongoose's jump is faster than its gaze and the thrust of its paws. But not all snakes can be dealt with so easily by animals. They often lose to the reptiles of the New World, since the reaction of these reptiles is faster.

In most cases, mongooses eat insects and other terrestrial invertebrates, hunt small vertebrates, love bird eggs, willingly feast on birds or rodents, can catch a crab on the sea coast, will not refuse fish, and sometimes eat fruits and other plant foods. Less commonly caught are weasels, guinea pigs, puppies, kittens, etc.

An Egyptian mongoose eats a catfish on the shore of a fish pond at the Maayan Zvi fish farm in Israel. Photo by: Vykh Pychmann, CC BY-SA 3.0

Water mongooses forage in streams, swamps, and at the edge of the ocean, pulling crabs, crustaceans, and amphibians out of the mud with their claws. In search of food, animals sniff the ground and, having found prey, dig it up. Egyptian mongoose destroys eggs. For this, he was greatly respected and revered in Ancient Egypt.

Animals break eggs in interesting ways. Some stretch out high on their hind legs, lift their front legs up and drop their eggs from a height so that they break. After a successful throw, the animal licks the white and yolk. Others grab the eggs with their hind legs and, backing away, smash them against a stone or tree.

Before attacking an animal, some mongooses, for example, striped ones, honestly warn about this. They arch their bodies, ruffle their fur, and scream shrilly. The mammal pretends to run at the enemy, but itself diligently stomps in place (false attack). In this original way, mongooses often scare away birds of prey.

Where do mongooses live?

Mongooses are found over a vast territory from Southeast Asia to West Africa, they are also found in Southern Europe, and representatives of the genus Galidiinae- endemic to Madagascar. Some species are acclimatized in the Hawaiian Islands, the West Indies and the island of Fiji.

Mongoose habitats can be humid jungles, savannas, forested mountains, flowering meadows, deserts and semi-deserts (with the exception of the Sahara), the sea coast and even cities. In cities, mongooses can settle in a ditch, sewer, park, hollow tree or rotten trunk. Some species prefer to settle near water, on the banks of swamps, reservoirs, and near river estuaries.

Most mongooses lead a terrestrial lifestyle, occupying abandoned burrows or rock crevices, but certain species (for example, the slender mongoose) can also live in tree hollows.

Some social mongooses require suitable shelters. Thus, inhabitants of the grassy plains of Africa willingly settle in the ventilation shafts of termite mounds. Animals also know how to build branched underground tunnels. Meerkats dig holes to a depth of 2 meters, their horizontal passages diverge over an area of ​​80 to 800 m². In places where there are enough shelters, in forested, rocky areas or in areas with loose and soft soil, animals can become the most common and numerous predators.

Lifestyle of mongooses in the wild

Among the representatives of the family there are animals that lead only a terrestrial lifestyle, arboreal-terrestrial and even semi-aquatic. All types of mongooses can swim and often escape by “water”.

Like most other predators, mongooses are mostly solitary creatures. However, if females have small cubs that have not achieved independence, they can unite in groups. As an example, consider the social organization of the Egyptian mongoose, an inhabitant of forests and savannas. Each female has her own territory, which she protects from outsiders. Males also have individual areas that are larger in area than those of females, and the areas of males intersect with the areas of several females. Outside the breeding season, males and females are rare. Male Egyptian mongooses do not care about their offspring.

And yet, some species of mongoose have adapted to life in a group. Thus, the dwarf mongoose is not able to fend for itself alone; it must carefully monitor what is happening both on the ground and in the air. When an animal is looking for their larvae, its main food, it needs to have more than one pair of eyes. Dwarf mongooses found a way out in a group lifestyle. Groups range from 2 to 21, and most often 9 adult individuals.

In addition to dwarf mongooses, striped mongoose and meerkat also lead a social lifestyle. The fact is that they are often attacked by birds of prey and mammals. While the group is feeding, one of the meerkats plays the role of observer, climbing to a high place and looking out for predators. In case of danger, the sentry sounds a loud alarm.

Interestingly, social species of mongooses can tell their relatives where they are in danger - from the air or from the ground. For this there are special sound signals. If trouble threatens from the air, mongooses rush without looking back to the nearest hole; if a terrestrial predator attacks, they run away less quickly. The fact is that feathered predators attack at a speed much higher than mongooses can run, and constantly keep the prey in sight. There is little chance of escape in such a situation, and all that remains is to try to hide in the nearest hole. There is a chance to escape from a terrestrial predator, and therefore mongooses manage to choose safe escape routes.

All social species of mongooses are diurnal, eat mainly insects, and live in open spaces. Single species are larger, inhabit forests, and are active at dusk, and even at night. They feed mainly on small birds, and since they are less common than insects, it is more profitable for the animals to search for food alone.

The largest member of the family, the white-tailed mongoose, is exclusively nocturnal, making it difficult to see even in places where it is common. The white-tailed mongoose is solitary in terms of nutrition (it feeds mainly on termites), but social in its use of space. Thus, in the western Serengeti, cases were recorded when several females used and defended the same territory.

Classification of the Mongoose family ( Herpestidae)

In the Mongoose family, 2 subfamilies, 14 genera and 35 species are distinguished.

Subfamily Herpestinae

• Genus Water mongooses ( Atilax)
  • Atilax paludinosus– Water mongoose
• Genus Black-footed mongoose ( Bdeogale)
  • Bdeogale crassicauda– Furry-tailed mongoose
  • Bdeogale jacksoni– Jackson's Mongoose
  • Bdeogale nigripes– Black-footed mongoose
• Genus African mongooses ( Galerella)
  • Galerella flavescens – Rufous mongoose
  • Galerella ochracea– Somali mongoose
  • Galerella pulverulenta – South African mongoose
  • Galerella sanguinea – Slender mongoose
  • Galerella nigrata– Black mongoose
• Genus Mongoose ( Herpestes)
  • Herpestes auropunctatus – Small mongoose
  • Herpestes brachyurus – Short-tailed mongoose
  • Herpestes Edwardsii – Common mongoose, or Indian gray mungo
  • Herpestes fuscus – Brown mongoose
  • Herpestes ichneumon – Egyptian mongoose, or pharaoh's rat
  • Herpestes javanicus – Javan mongoose
  • Herpestes naso – Long-nosed mongoose
  • Herpestes semitorquatus – collared mongoose
  • Herpestes smithii – Indian mongoose
  • Herpestes urva – Crabeater mongoose
  • Herpestes vitticollis – Banded-necked mongoose
• Genus White-tailed mongooses ( Ichneumia)
  • Ichneumia albicauda – White-tailed mongoose
• Rod Umbi ( Rhynchogale)
  • Rhynchogale melleri – Umbi

Subfamily Mungotinae

• Cusimanza family ( Crossarchus)
  • Crossarchus alexandri– Zairian kuzimanze (kuzimanza)
  • Crossarchus ansorgei– Angolan Cusimanze
  • Crossarchus obscurus– Long-nosed kuzimanze
  • Crossarchus platycephalus
• Genus Yellow mongooses ( Cynictis)
  • Cynictis penicillata – Yellow mongoose
• Genus Dologale
  • Dologale dybowskii – Dybovsky's mongoose
• Genus Dwarf mongooses ( Helogale)
  • Helogale hirtula – Tiny mongoose
  • Helogale parvula Dwarf mongoose
• Genus Liberian mongoose ( Liberiictis)
  • Liberiictis kuhni – Liberian mongoose
• Genus Striped mongoose ( Mungos)
  • Mungos gambianus – Gambian mongoose
  • Mungos mungo – Striped mongoose, or mungo
• Genus Gray mongooses ( Paracynictis)
  • Paracynictis selousi – Gray mongoose
• Genus Meerkats ( Suricata)
  • Suricata suricatta – Meerkat, or meerkat

Types of mongooses, names and photos

Below is a description of some varieties of mongoose.

• Umbi ( Rhynchogale meleri)

Translated from Latin - mongoose meller, named after the botanist Charles James Meller. The animal lives in Southeast Africa. It is found in Tanzania, Malawi, Swaziland, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, the Republic of South Africa, and also presumably in Botswana. Lives in wooded savannas, in grassy swampy places, in open pastures where there are termite mounds. Leads a solitary nocturnal lifestyle.

The body length of the umbi is 44-48.5 cm, the tail length is 30-40 cm, and the weight is 1.7-3 kg. The mongoose's fur is white, gray or light brown, lighter on the ventral side than on the dorsal side, and the legs are dark. A strip of bare skin runs from the nose to the upper lip of the umbi.

The mongoose feeds on termites, fruits and small vertebrates.

• Meerkat, or meerkat (Suricata suricatta )

The animals live in deserts (mainly in the Kalahari and Namib), savannas, shrub steppes and grassy communities of Angola, South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.

Dimensions of meerkats: body length - 29 cm, tail length - 19 cm, weight - 700-750 g. The hair is long on the dorsal side, and short on the abdominal and thoracic sides. Its color ranges from yellow-brown to gray with intermittent brown stripes on the sides and back. The head and throat are grayish-white, the rings around the eyes, the tip of the tail and the ears are black.

Meerkats live in colonies, which unite 2-3 families. In total, a group can contain up to 30 or more individuals. The female is the head of the family, and the life of the colony members is strictly organized. Animals are active during the day, get up early in the morning, clear the entrance to the hole, and go in search of food. In the heat, the family of meerkats rests in the shade and returns to their home an hour before dark. They actively “talk” to each other, making a lot of different sounds.

The life of meerkats is full of dangers, as they are hunted by many animals. For protection, “sentinel” meerkats can sometimes climb trees. The mourning drongo bird ( Dicrurus adsimilis). The “friend of meerkats” warns the animals with cries about the approach of enemies, and he himself catches insects disturbed by mammals.

Meerkats eat mostly insects; a smaller proportion of their diet consists of small animals (snakes, centipedes), as well as plants. Meerkats can stand on their hind legs for a long time, straighten their backs, take bizarre poses, and the animals look very funny. For this ability they are called humanoid (anthropomorphic) animals. They are well tamed, so they are kept at home.

• Striped mongoose, mungo, or zebra mongoose ( Mungos mungo)

Mongoose body length is 340-450 mm, tail length is 220-290 mm, average weight is 1.8 kg, maximum weight is 2.25 kg. The body is covered with coarse hair, short at the head and lengthening towards the tail. The color of the fur on the body is brownish-gray with transverse dark brown stripes on the back that resemble stripes. The legs are dark brown to black, the tip of the tail is black.

The mongoose lives in sub-Saharan Africa, found in countries such as Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The animal is active during the day and lives in savannas along river banks and in thickets of thorny bushes. Often kept in small groups in which there is no strict hierarchy. It does not dig holes itself; it uses ready-made shelters, for example, termite mounds and crevices in rocks. Shelters are changed every 2-3 days.

It feeds on insects, centipedes, bird eggs, snakes, lizards, small rodents, and wild fruits.

• Long-nosed Cusimanza, or long-nosed kuzimanze ( Crossarchus obscurus)

The animal lives in West Africa from Sierra Leone to Cameroon. The habitat covers countries such as Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The length of its body is 300-370 mm, tail – 150-210 mm, weight – up to 1 kg. The coat color varies from dark brown to gray or black. The muzzle and ears are lighter, the legs are dark brown. The nose of the cuzimanza is elongated and mobile. The claws on the front paws are longer than on the hind paws.

The mongoose is found in the dense undergrowth of humid jungles, floodplain forests, savannas and mountains up to an altitude of 1500 m above sea level. Most Long-nosed Cusimanzas are diurnal, but there is evidence of them being active at night. Animals live in groups of 3 monogamous families, in which there are a total of 20 individuals or more. Animals do not have permanent homes; they hide in dense vegetation, in crevices of tree trunks, and in depressions in the soil.

They feed on snails, earthworms, woodlice, insects, snakes, crabs, lizards, birds and their eggs, berries and fruits.

• yellow mongoose, or fox-tailed mongoose ( Cynictis penicillata)

Found in South Africa: Namibia, Angola, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Lives in pairs or family groups, often in a meerkat community.

This is a very beautiful mongoose, its color is often reddish-yellow with gray specks, the chin and tip of the tail are white. The ears are quite large, the muzzle is pointed, and the tail is fluffy, which makes the mongoose look like. Depending on the habitat, the color of individuals can vary - from reddish-yellow to yellow-gray. The color also changes with the seasons: in summer it is reddish, in winter it is gray. Body size is 27-38 cm, tail length is 18-28 cm, weight is from 440g to 1 kg.

Yellow mongooses are good at digging themselves, but prefer to occupy holes dug by long-legged animals ( Pedetes capensis) or gophers ( Spermophilus or Citellus). Sometimes they live in the same dwelling with gophers. The animals are active during the day and live in family groups of 4 to 8 individuals.

They eat mostly a variety of insects, less often they hunt rodents and birds, and also feast on bird eggs.

• Egyptian mongoose (Pharaoh's rat, ichneumon) ( Herpestes ichneumon)

The species is distributed over most of Africa, with the exception of the Sahara and equatorial forests, is found in Asian countries (Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey), and also lives in southern Europe: Spain and Portugal. This is a sacred animal of the ancient Egyptians, revered for its ability to destroy crocodiles' nests and eat their eggs.

Body length – 48-60 cm, tail up to 50 cm long, weight – 3.6-7 (9) kg. The color is gray with graying, with a tuft of black hair at the tip of the tail in the form of a brush. The toes of the ichneumon are almost half connected by a short membrane.

It lives on plains or in forests, but more often it inhabits river banks overgrown with reeds and other coastal vegetation.

During the day, the mongoose eats insects, birds, eggs, lizards, catches snakes, and readily eats fruits. Lives alone, less often in small groups. He makes sounds only when he is wounded, and spends the rest of the time in silence.

• Dwarf mongoose ( Helogale parvula)

It has a wide habitat: found from southern Somalia and Ethiopia to South Africa, west of Northern Namibia, Southwestern and Central Angola and southeastern Congo. Usually the mongoose lives at altitudes of about 2000 m above sea level. Lives in wooded savannas and dry meadows. It is especially numerous in places where there are termite mounds - favorite sleeping places.

This is the smallest species of the Mongoose family. Its body length is 16-23 cm, tail – 14-19 cm, weight – from 210 to 420 g. Color – from grayish-yellow-brown to dark brown with thin graying. There are also completely black dwarf mongooses.

These are extremely social animals, in a group of which there can be from 2 to 30 individuals. At night they sleep in termite mounds, among piles of stones, in tree cavities.

During the day they hunt insects (beetles, termites, crickets) and their larvae, spiders, scorpions, small lizards, snakes, small birds and rodents. Supplement your diet with berries.

• Indian mongoose ( Herpestes smithii)

The animal is also called Smith's mongoose, ruddy mongoose, red mongoose. Endemic to India and Sri Lanka, spotted in Nepal. Leads a solitary, twilight lifestyle. Occasionally climbs trees, but spends most of its life on the ground. Prefers secluded places: bushes, woodlands and forests, less common in open landscapes and at altitudes up to 2200 m above sea level. It does not come close to human habitation, but in India it often dies on busy highways.

The Indian mongoose has a body up to 45 cm long, a tail 40 cm long, and an average weight of 1.9 kg. Its color varies from light brown-gray to black, with white and red streaks. The limbs are dark brown, the coccygeal part of the tail is black.

The diet is based on mice, birds, snakes, lizards and their eggs. Indian mongooses can also eat carrion.

• Common mongoose or Indian Gray Mungo (Herpestes edwardsi i)

The mongoose's fur is gray or silver-gray, with brown on its legs. The hair is coarser than that of other species of the family. The gray Mungo also has red areas around the eyes and muzzle, as well as at the tip of the tail.

Geographic populations of the species differ in color. There are groups of animals with a ring-shaped pattern on the body, with milky white or black fur. The length of the common mongoose's tail is equal to the length of their body. The dimensions of a mongoose without a tail are 36-45 cm, the tail is 45 cm. The weight of the animal varies from 0.9 to 1.7 kg. Males are larger than females. Indian gray mongooses are interesting because they can distinguish 4 colors, which is more than other mammals.

Common mongooses live in Western Asia and the Hindustan Peninsula. Habitat: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Kuwait, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Türkiye, UAE. Animals are found in light forests, among bushes, in cultivated fields, often close to human habitation. They live in burrows or hide among trees, bushes, stones, and sometimes in haystacks. Occasionally they feed on gharial eggs.

• Water mongoose ( Atilax paludinosus)

A fairly large mongoose, its body from the head to the base of the tail is 44-62 cm, the tail is 25-36 cm long, the animal weighs from 2 to 5.5 kg. It has long, thick dark brown fur and the tips of the guard hairs are black. There are reddish or almost black individuals. The water mongoose differs from other mongooses by its recognizable elongated snout and the presence of swimming membranes between the toes. Its claws are short, blunt, and are used for digging. The thick tail tapers strongly towards the tip.

The water mongoose is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Lives near fresh water bodies surrounded by dense vegetation. It also lives near swamps, estuaries, and reed thickets. But it was also recorded in hilly areas with no bodies of water.

Mongooses are very active and agile animals that live throughout Africa and South Asia. In some areas they are the most numerous predators.

Systematically, mongooses (Herpestidae) are very close to civets (Viverridae), so experts have long united them into a single family of civets. However, there are many significant differences between them. Thus, mongooses have non-retractable claws, and the membrane between the fingers is reduced or absent. Some species are characterized by a complex social organization, which makes them fundamentally different from the solitary civets. Additionally, unlike civets, most species of mongoose live on the ground and are most often active during the day.

Habitat

Mongooses live over a vast territory stretching from West Africa to Southeast Asia. In addition, they were acclimatized in the West Indies, the Hawaiian Islands and Fiji.

By the way, mongooses, brought to Fiji to fight rats at the end of the 19th century, now pose the main danger to the local wildlife. Then it was not taken into account that rats are active at night, and our heroes are active during the day. Therefore, instead of destroying rodents, they greatly reduced the number of birds and iguanas.

Mongooses have managed to adapt to the most various places habitats and inhabit both dense forests and woodlands, as well as savannas and deserts. Some species dig branched systems of underground tunnels, others occupy holes abandoned by previous owners, and others lead a nomadic lifestyle.

For mongooses great importance has suitable shelters in their habitats. Thus, some species inhabiting the grassy plains of Africa, where the only available shelter is often only termite mounds, the animals prefer to settle in the ventilation shafts of large buildings of Macroternes termites. In places where there is plenty of shelter (in forests, rocky areas), they are often the most common and numerous predators.

What does a mongoose look like?

There are 35 species in the mongoose family in two subfamilies and 17 genera. The subfamily Galidiinae (4 genera and 5 species) is endemic to Madagascar. The most famous representative is the ring-tailed mungo; it and two other species of the subfamily of Madagascar mongooses have striped coloring.

Species of the subfamily Herpestinae live in Africa and Asia. This includes 13 genera and 30 species, including the meerkat, common, dwarf and yellow mongoose. All species of the family, as a rule, have a uniform body color.

In terms of external structure, the animals are similar to mustelids and viverrids. They are small: body length from 17 cm (dwarf) to 60 cm (white-tailed mongoose), tail length - from 19 to 45 cm. Their weight varies from 320 g to 5 kg. The body is elongated, the legs are relatively short. The limbs are five-fingered, with non-retractable claws. The head is small, with an elongated, pointed muzzle and small ears. The tail is long and bushy, usually thick at the base and tapering towards the end.

The fur of the animals is long, rough, often with graying or speckles. Its color varies from dark gray to brown, yellow or reddish. The color of the limbs, tail or its tip often differs from the color of the body. The banded mongoose and meerkat have dark brown stripes on their backs.

Many species have a large anal sac with at least 2 openings. Scent marks from the anal and buccal glands inform relatives of belonging to a certain sex and readiness for reproduction.

Photos of some members of the family are presented below.

The white-tailed mongoose is the largest representative; inhabits sub-Saharan Africa. Active only at night, it is very difficult to see even in places where it is common.

White-tailed mongoose (Ichneumia albicauda)

The dwarf mongoose is the smallest species. Found from Ethiopia to South Africa, west to Namibia, Angola and Cameroon.

Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula)

Ring-tailed mungos live in the tropical forests of Madagascar; live in pairs or small family groups; spend a lot of time in trees.

Ring-tailed mungo (Galidia elegans)

The water mongoose is found in Gambia. As the name suggests, this species is closely associated with water and is often found near ponds and swamps.

Meerkats (Suricata suricatta)

The common mongoose is distributed from the Arabian Peninsula to Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Inhabits semi-aquatic forest biotypes. Leads a solitary lifestyle.

Common mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii)

Indian are found throughout India, in Sri Lanka. Poisonous snakes often become prey for this species. It was probably he who became the hero of Kipling's famous story.

The photo shows a fight between a fearless mongoose and a cobra.

Indian mongoose (Herpestes smithii)

What's for lunch?

Among mongooses there are both polyphagous predators and exclusively insectivorous species. Their diet includes insects and other terrestrial invertebrates, small vertebrates, crabs, fish, bird eggs, and sometimes fruits and plant bulbs. Leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle, the water mongoose feeds mainly on small aquatic vertebrates. The structure of the limbs of these animals reflects their feeding habits. Long, non-retractable claws are well suited for digging. Moving slowly, the animal sniffs the ground, and as soon as it finds an insect, it either grabs it from the surface or quickly digs it out of the ground.

With the light hand of Rudyard Kipling, who described the fight between Riki-Tiki-Tavi and a cobra, the opinion was strengthened that mongooses feed mainly on snakes. However, snakes are not the main food source for any species. In addition, it is generally accepted that mongooses are resistant to snake venom. But that's not true. It’s just that the animals have a very quick reaction, which allows them to avoid snake bites.

Wild Lifestyle

Some species lead a terrestrial lifestyle, while others lead a terrestrial-arboreal lifestyle. There is even a semi-aquatic species - the water mongoose.

Being predators, most species prefer to live alone. Only females with teenage cubs form stable groups. A typical example of social organization is the Egyptian mongoose. Each female occupies a certain territory, which she jealously protects from the invasion of strangers. Males also guard their territory, and their individual territories are larger than those of females. Sexually mature females and males are rare outside the breeding season. After mating, the partners disperse; males usually do not take any part in raising the younger generation.

But some species have nevertheless adapted to living in groups. For example, the dwarf mongoose. This species is very small, weighing no more than 350 grams, so it is very vulnerable to a large number of predators. He needs to constantly be aware of what is happening at the moment both on the ground and in the air. This is especially important when searching for food. A group lifestyle allows these animals to survive in a hostile world. Groups of dwarf mongooses consist of 2-20 adults (average 9), led by a breeding female.

The photo shows a friendly family of dwarf mongooses

Species such as the meerkat and banded mongoose are also social. They are also attacked by numerous predatory mammals and birds. When the family is feeding, one of the meerkats climbs to a high place and inspects the area for danger. Seeing a predator, the sentry emits a loud alarm, and the entire group rushes for cover.

The sound repertoire of mongooses is diverse and plays an important role in the life of these small predators. They growl, squeal, cackle, and their alarm calls resemble the barking of a dog.

The breeding season for different species occurs at different times. Pregnancy lasts about 60 days. Usually 2-4 cubs are born, sometimes their number reaches 6.

Enemies and friends of mongooses

Among the terrestrial predators, mongooses are annoyed by jackals, servals, caracals, and leopards. But birds of prey pose a particular danger to them. And if mongooses can cover short distances as quickly as larger land predators, then birds of prey approach at a speed that significantly exceeds the maximum speed of our heroes. In addition, a terrestrial predator, chasing prey, cannot constantly keep it in its field of vision; birds of prey have excellent visibility, which makes the animals’ attempts to choose a safe route useless. Therefore, death in the claws of a bird of prey is not uncommon for mongooses.

However, dwarf mongooses living in Kenya's Taru Desert have unusual allies. They are always accompanied by hornbills, monitoring the situation in the air.

In the morning, birds, sitting in the trees around the termite mounds, wait for the mongooses. As soon as the animals come out, the whole company goes hunting. In fact, the benefits of their cooperation are obvious. The birds catch grasshoppers and flying insects that are scared off by mongooses. On the other hand, hornbills are very good guards. Several birds monitor safety at once. Seeing an enemy, the birds fly up into the trees and fill the area with loud cries. Mongooses run as fast as they can to the nearest shelter. An interesting fact is that the feathered guards raise the alarm when birds of prey appear that are not dangerous to themselves, but attack the mongoose cubs. However, they do not react in any way to birds, which do not pose a threat to small predators. With such vigilant protection, the mongooses themselves do not even have to keep a watch. Fully trusting their feathered friends, the animals can devote more time to searching for food. And although they have to share their food with the hornbills, everyone benefits from such cooperation. This is an amazing case of mutually beneficial cooperation between mammals and birds.

Conservation in nature

Despite the fact that mongooses have many enemies in nature, they are a widespread and prosperous group of mammals. Most species are common, but due to the destruction of natural habitats, the Madagascar species are the most vulnerable.

Javan, yellow mongooses and meerkats have been exterminated by humans, but nevertheless remain numerous. Two South African species and a meerkat have been persecuted as carriers of rabies. The Java mongoose was first introduced to the West Indies in 1870 and to Hawaii in the 1880s to control rats in sugarcane fields, but subsequently became a pest because it kills native fauna.

Mongooses live quite a long time - in captivity up to 12-13 years. However, in natural conditions their age is shorter - about 6-7 years.

In contact with

Thanks to the work of R. Kipling, many of us are familiar with the fearless snake fighter “Riki-Tiki-Tavi”. A dexterous and agile, affectionate and devoted animal - all this mongoose. This cheerful and extremely smart animal is quite easy to tame; it can become a wonderful companion and friend for you and your household.

Agile and agile mongooses live mainly in the tropics of the Old World. These animals belong to the civet family, and their ancestry goes back to the Paleocene period, which began about 65 million years ago. Along with mongooses, this broad family includes civets and genets, whose habitat extends from southwestern Europe through the Middle East and India to southeast Asia and central China.

The water mongoose is unusual in that it finds food - crabs and small crustaceans - in small streams, preying on pebbles and bottom silt. With all their differences in size - from the dwarf mongoose 24 cm long to the twice as large white-tailed mongoose - the physique of all animals is approximately the same. They have a thin, slender body, short legs, and a long, often bushy tail ranging from half to three-quarters the length of the body. The muzzle is pointed, the ears are round. The front and hind feet have 4 or 5 toes with long sharp claws that are convenient for digging the ground. All species have anal glands to leave scent marks, and all are endowed with acute vision, excellent sense of smell and hearing.

The coloring characteristics of each species depend on its habitat. Even representatives of the same species living in different places are colored differently. Mongoose fur is usually monochromatic, sometimes slightly gray. Only a few species differ from their relatives in special markings - for example, the striped mongoose has dark and light stripes running across its back, and the Madagascar ring-tailed mungo has a long tail decorated with the same rings.

Within their range, mongooses settle in any corner that is more or less suitable for life at altitudes of 2000 m or more above sea level. They can be found in deserts and humid jungles, in overgrown dense forests mountains and windswept plains.

A real haven for mongooses is all types of savannas, from generously watered with rain and with tall grass to dry, rocky semi-deserts. Some species prefer dense grasses and shrubs, others prefer the sea coast and even cities, where they often settle in sewers and gardens. Some species have chosen swamps and stream banks, and the water mongoose leads a semi-aquatic lifestyle and is invariably found in river estuaries.

Almost all mongooses are terrestrial animals, although many are excellent tree climbers. Only two species - the African slender mongoose and the ring-tailed mongoose from Madagascar - live and feed in trees.

Mongoose habitats can be found in the most unexpected places. Some species dig extensive systems of underground tunnels. Others occupy holes abandoned by their previous owners: ground squirrels or aardvarks. There are also nomadic species that are not content with permanent homes and, after spending a couple of days in one place, move to another apartment.

For sleep and shelter from enemies, hollows and recesses under roots, crevices in stones, rotten trunks, old termite mounds, sewers or ditches are used - in other words, everything where you can quickly and reliably hide from prying eyes, since the flexible and thin body allows it.

The motley company of mongooses includes both nocturnal and daytime species. Solitary mongooses, as a rule, are active at night, and those that live in large families hunt in daylight. However, nocturnal species such as the white-tailed, water-tailed, bushy-tailed, black-footed and gray mongooses sometimes live in pairs or small family groups, while the Cape gray, striped-necked and slender-necked mongooses are active during the day.

Ring-tailed, narrow-banded and brown Madagascar mongooses are diurnal, living alone or in pairs, while their fellow countrymen, the broad-banded mongooses, also live in pairs, but go out to fish only at night.

Almost all mongooses occupy a certain home area, but only a few jealously guard it and most often are tolerant of other animals and even relatives in their territory.

Social species - dwarf, striped mongooses and meerkats - live in large numbers and strictly organized groups. Yellow mongooses and meerkats, whose ranges overlap in Central and Western Africa, tend to dig their own underground homes or settle in burrows dug by other mongooses or ground squirrels. Often, in one underground “town”, both species of mongooses and the same ground squirrels coexist peacefully, almost without noticing each other.

Dwarf and striped mongooses often occupy old termite mounds, creating several entrances in them, and in the center - a spacious common bedroom.

While members of the family feed, keeping within sight of each other, one or two adults remain in the hole to look after the cubs. Often the family posts a watchman, who, sitting in a column on a raised platform, vigilantly inspects the surroundings in search of predators. Noticing the danger, the sentry emits a piercing cry, and the entire family quickly hides in the hole.

Members of the family carefully comb each other's fur and often start noisy games with chases and fights. On a hot afternoon, the animals love to bask in the sun at the entrance to the hole. Family group sizes range from 5 to 40 individuals.

Camouflage coloring makes mongooses invisible among stones and bushes, serving as the main means of protection, and they usually flee from danger. However, they are not short of courage and determination, and at the sight of an enemy the animal arches its back with a hump, its tail, like a battle flag, flies up, and the hair sticking out on end almost doubles its size, scaring off a possible enemy. When cornered, the mongoose barks and growls furiously, bites and shoots the sharp-smelling secretion of the anal glands at the enemy.

Many mongooses are more insectivorous than carnivorous, but they are not picky and eat everything that is suitable for food. For example, the menu of meerkats is very diverse, although 80% of their diet consists of insects. Small rodents and other mammals, reptiles and their eggs, amphibians, birds and bird eggs, all kinds of insects and plants, wild fruits, leaves, tubers and roots - everything is suitable for the mongoose table. Preferring fresh prey, they sometimes do not pass by carrion.

The water mongoose has its own gastronomic preferences. It hunts in small streams, digging with its claws in the mud and turning over pebbles, from where it extracts crabs, crustaceans and amphibians. In addition, he is a skilled fisherman and, according to stories, even steals eggs from crocodile nests. The crabeater mongoose feeds mainly on crustaceans living in water bodies.

In search of insects, mongooses sniff the ground, tear apart fallen leaves and look into every crack under the stones, from where they pull out scorpions, spiders, larvae and other living creatures with their sharp claws.
Most mongooses feed alone, even if they live in families. However, dwarf mongooses sometimes join forces to jointly defeat large prey.

Not much is known about the reproductive habits of nocturnal mongooses. Most broods have no more than 2-3 cubs, which are born in a secluded crevice among stones or an underground burrow. All care for the offspring is the responsibility of the female.

Mating season occurs at different times for different species, but among desert dwellers it often coincides with the rainy season. The cubs are born blind and almost hairless. They begin to see the light only two weeks later, and until then they are completely dependent on their mother. At the age of one month, babies make their first forays out of the hole.

The habits of social mongooses are much better known. For example, in a group of striped mongooses, several females give birth at approximately the same time, 2–3 cubs each, although one brood can have up to 6 babies. All cubs are kept together and fed not only by their mother, but also by any stranger. While the females go to feed, one or two adult males remain in the hole to look after the babies and, if necessary, drag them to a safe place, holding the scruff of the neck with their teeth.

In most species, pregnancy lasts about 60 days, but lesser Indian mongooses carry their offspring for 42 days, and female narrow-striped mongooses carry their offspring for as long as 105 days.

Having been born tiny - weighing up to 20 g - and helpless, mongoose cubs quickly grow and develop. Adults bring solid food to the grown-up children, and a little later they, together with the whole family, set off on wanderings, learning from their elders how to get food for themselves.

Yellow mongooses and meerkats breed in approximately the same pattern, with the difference that meerkats usually give birth to one litter in November-December, while yellow mongooses have more such litters. In the banded mongoose family, up to 4 broods have been noted, although one female never has 4 pregnancies in a year.

Dwarf mongooses have a unique social structure. A group can contain up to 40 (usually 10–12) individuals related through the maternal line. One monogamous couple dominates the group, with the eldest female in charge, and her husband taking second place in rank.

Only this pair produces offspring: the older female suppresses the sexual behavior of the group members subordinate to her. All the rest form a rigid hierarchical structure in which the younger ones enjoy a higher position, receiving plenty of food without competition with the older and stronger ones. Perhaps for this reason they do not tend to leave their group as they grow older, although they are not allowed to reproduce. In large flocks, however, migration is observed - especially among males, who often move into groups with one or two males, where there is a greater chance of having their own offspring.

The Indian mongoose is much smaller than the ichneumon; the length of its body reaches 40-50 cm, the tail is slightly shorter. Long, hard gray fur; the hair at the ends has wide white rings, which gives the coat a silvery tint and a light gray tint; on the head and thighs the color darkens, and on the legs it turns black; the cheeks and throat are more or less reddish in color. However, the distinctive features change very dramatically in this animal, which led to the identification of many species and varieties.

The distribution area runs through the entire Hindustan to the east, probably to Assam, and to the west to Afghanistan and Balochistan; in addition, it is also found in Ceylon. Whether the mongoose is found on the Malay Peninsula, where Kantor acquired one specimen, has not yet been clarified.

The Indian mongoose does not like forests; it prefers bushes, groves, oak groves, plantations, banks overgrown with bushes and reeds, rocky slopes and often settles in houses, where it often causes great harm to poultry and other small domestic animals. In burrows dug by themselves, females give birth to three or four cubs. The Indian mongoose eats sweet fruits, but prefers meat. Running from rock to rock, from rock to rock, from gorge to gorge, he explores the area so thoroughly that hardly anything edible can be hidden from him; sometimes he climbs into the narrowest crevices and pulls out mice, rats, lizards, snakes and similar animals caught in their holes and lairs. When attacking chickens, he has to act much more carefully; here he uses all his natural cunning: he stretches out on the ground and pretends to be dead in order to deceive the stupid bird, which, out of curiosity, comes to look at an unknown object; as soon as it approaches, it instantly comes to life and overtakes its victim in two or three leaps . These stories of travelers are quite plausible, because I myself had to observe the same thing in African mongooses.

The Indian mongoose is praised and revered for its victories over venomous snakes. Despite his insignificant size, he can defeat even a spectacled snake, defeating it not so much with his strength as with his dexterity. The natives say that when a mongoose is bitten by a poisonous snake, he hurries to find a special herb or bitter root known as "mangoosevil", eats this antidote and, having recovered, can again continue the fight with the snake. The most accurate researchers admit that there is some truth in these stories and that a mongoose poisoned by a snake bite actually runs away from the battlefield to find a healing root and neutralize the snake venom, after which it again takes on the role of a snake. But Tennent says that the Sinhalese do not believe the stories of Europeans about the deliberate use of antivenom by a snake-bitten mongoose; if, during a fight with a spectacled snake, which it attacks as easily as its related mammals, the animal eats some kind of grass or root, then this, apparently, is completely accidental.

Blanford says the antidote story is unfounded. If these stories were true, then why do some Indian mongooses have an antidote at their disposal, while other fighters who pursue poisonous snakes, such as the secretary and some eagles, are defenseless against the poisonous snake? It must also be taken into account that if the Indian mongoose knew such a sure remedy against a snake bite, then it would attack it headlong, and would not take all possible precautions, showing its amazing dexterity and cunning during such a fight. Gerdon and Sterndahl explain the invulnerability of the mongoose in the fight against snakes by the properties of its skin; they claim that the thick bristly hair and thick skin make the animal almost inaccessible to the teeth of the snake; if the snake manages to bite him, then he dies in the same way as any other animal, although, according to Blanford, the poison acts in his body more slowly than in other mammals of the same size. This naturalist witnessed how a mongoose ate the head of a snake along with the poisonous gland without harming itself. It should not be overlooked that other predators, such as the hedgehog, ferret, and badger, according to Lenz, also endure the bites of the common viper without harm and can eat its head along with its poisonous glands.

In 1871, at one of the meetings of the London Zoological Society, Sclater gave a scientific report on the mongoose regarding the correspondence that arose between him and the governor of Santa Lucia. The latter sent to my esteemed friend and collaborator a request regarding the extermination of the spear-headed snake, that terrible scourge of the West Indies, and asked for mongooses, secretaries or some other large predators to be delivered to him to fight this local enemy. Sclater replied that, under existing conditions, he could most likely recommend the mongoose for this purpose, but he must warn that mongooses cause more havoc among poultry than among poisonous snakes, and that therefore he advised it was better to assign a large premium for killing snakes, than to discharge the said animal there. However, he immediately sent De Veux two live mongooses so that he could conduct tests on them regarding their ability to fight snakes. Soon after receiving the animals, De Veux arranged an experimental fight between a brave mongoose and a dangerous poisonous snake. A large, more than half a meter long, spear-headed snake was enclosed in a glass jar and brought in front of a mongoose released from a cage.

At the first glance at the poisonous reptile, the mongoose showed strong excitement, bristled all over, ran busily around the jar and tried in every possible way to open it, tugging at the rag with which the vessel was covered with its teeth and claws. Having completed this task, he released the snake, which immediately crawled out of the jar and, after looking around, quickly moved forward. The mongoose rushed at her and grabbed her neck with his teeth and claws, but the snake, as if having prepared in advance for such an attack, deftly dodged and, jumping to the side, in turn attacked its little enemy; Apparently, she managed to bite him, since the poor mongoose squealed pitifully and jumped high in place, but at that very moment he gathered his strength and again grabbed the snake by the neck, this time with redoubled fury. A brief struggle ensued; the position of the snake did not allow it to use its teeth again, but it still managed to escape from the claws and teeth of the mongoose and crawled away from it a few steps. The mongoose pretended to be indifferent and began to wander around as if aimlessly.

Almost three minutes passed like this. The snake moved with difficulty, wanted to hide, considering itself obviously safe, but remained lying in place. Then the mongoose, quite unexpectedly, ran at her again, grabbed her across the body so that she did not move, and dragged her into his cage, the door of which stood open. Entering his room, he calmly began to eat his prey, whose head he first of all took off. The cage was locked, and the spectators left in full confidence that the brave winner would pay with his life for his gluttony. After an hour, they returned to the cage again, opened it, and the hero of the battle came out of it completely healthy, and only a small piece of the tail remained from the defeated snake: everything else was eaten. Another two weeks passed, and the brave mongoose continued to feel as cheerful and cheerful as before. Whether he was bitten and how badly cannot be said, since the mongoose could not be examined. “The snake on which this experiment was carried out,” De Veux ends his report, “was still half-adult, although already strong enough to inflict deep bites, the consequences of which could kill a person in a very short time.” In the seventies, the Indian mongoose was transported to Jamaica to exterminate rats that were devastating sugar plantations; The benefit provided to these animals was estimated at two million marks.

The Indian mongoose is best suited for taming, because it is extremely neat, clean, cheerful and relatively good-natured. Therefore, in its homeland it can be found in many homes, as an ordinary pet. The mongoose repays the hospitality shown to it with a host of services: like an ichneumon, it quickly clears the house of rats and mice. Like a true mongoose, the mongoose is active only during the day. When he is brought into an unfamiliar home for the first time, he quickly runs around the entire house, looks for all the holes, crevices and secluded corners and, with the help of his subtle sense, immediately finds rodents. He acts so energetically and diligently that he never leaves without prey.

As already said, the mongoose is a rather good-natured animal, but when it is in a bad mood, it, like an angry dog, bares its teeth at everyone who approaches it; however, his anger is short-lived, and the animal soon calms down. The mongoose gets along with humans very quickly; in a short period of time he gets so used to his owner that he follows him everywhere, sleeps with him, eats from his hands and generally behaves like a pet.

Sterndal had a mongoose, which served as his constant companion during his three years in India, and showed the obedience and loyalty characteristic of dogs. Pepys knew very well when the owner wanted to shoot a bird for him, he watched, crouching on his hind legs, at the sight of the gun and hastily grabbed the fallen prey. Being very clean, he even took care of the neat maintenance of his teeth and picked out leftover food from them with his claws, which from the outside looked very funny. He was remarkably fearless, chasing even large dogs. In addition, Pepys killed a lot of snakes. In an excited state of mind, he bristled so much that he seemed twice his real size, but as soon as the owner shook his finger at him, the enraged pet humbled his anger and calmed down. One day he got lost in a thick bush, and the owner could not find him that day, but when a few days later he went to this forest again, he saw his Pips on a tree, and the animal was so happy to see the owner that he immediately jumped from the tree and no longer left him a single step. Subsequently, Strendal took him with him to England, where the mongoose soon became a common favorite. He could do a lot of funny things: he jumped, tumbled, sat on a chair with a skull cap on his head, pretended to be a soldier and obeyed commands. Pips died of melancholy: he could not bear the temporary separation from his master and voluntarily starved himself to death.

Striped mongooses (Mungos mungo ) is also called mungo, belongs to the genus of predatory animals and they are distributed mainly in the tropics of South and Southeast Asia, Africa and southern Europe. Depending on the species, the mongoose reaches from 25 to 50 cm in length (this is a relatively small animal). The physique of all animals is approximately the same: a thin and slender body, short legs and a long, fluffy tail, making up up to ¾ of the body length. His charismatic face is pointed and his ears are small and round. The nimble paws are endowed with long and sharp claws of impressive size, which are very convenient for digging the ground. Mongooses are endowed with acute vision, excellent hearing and sense of smell.