Mongoose

“ The chickens began to follow the rats. Nowadays the planters look on the mongoose as a worse pest even than the rat and would like very much [299] to get rid of their late friend, who makes it very hard to keep chickens and any kind of poultry. They would be glad to find some animal that would serve the mongoose as the mongoose served the rat.
A very tamable little creature is the mongoose, and a very active one also, for it is never still for a minute except when asleep. It is not always hungry, like some other tame animals, but soon gets enough food. ”

“ Most people, I find, still believe in the legend that the mongoose is proof against serpent-poison; but such is not the case. A snake when it strikes always calculates its blow so that the fangs shall reach the object aimed at. It would be a fool if it did anything else. But when the mongoose attacks the snake it does so with all its long thick fur on end, looking twice the size it really is, and the result is that the reptile is deceived. ”

“ There was a corner given to orchids, which were hung in baskets and just coming into flower. Lizards swarmed in the sunshine, running up the tree trunks, or basking on the garden seats. Snakes there are none; the mongoose has cleared them all away so completely that there is nothing left for him to eat but the poultry, in which he makes havoc, and, having been introduced to exterminate the vermin, has become a vermin himself. ”

“ The mongoose, that “familiar” of Indian households, has such a natural bias for human society, that, according to Mr. Kipling, it will often come into a house from the jungle, and voluntarily enrol itself among the members of the family. It is a slim, active little animal, varying from a foot to nearly two feet in length, of a curious mottled silvery-grey colour, and so amazingly rapid in its movements that its victory over the cobra is not surprising. ”

“ At all events, he prefers to keep his chickens and the Fer de Lance, and do away with the mongoose, rather than run the risk of an occasional raid upon the hen-coop. So now the question is, how shall he get rid of the mongoose?
The mongoose is a plucky little fellow; and so Kipling vividly pictured him as “Rikki-tiki-tavi,”—a bright-eyed, big, brown weasel in appearance,—very efficient in killing the dangerous snakes of India. We saw them in confinement, the snappiest, most vicious little animals one could imagine. ”

“ The mongoose kills young pigs that roam, half wild, over the island; also lambs and kids. It eats fruits of all kinds, fish, wild fowl, snakes, lizards, and crabs; and the once plentiful edible lizards and land crabs are now rarely seen. All young and tender life, both animal and vegetable, is included in its daily menu. When the mongoose has cleared off all the animal life, it turns its attention to the "ground provisions," and here it shows the varieties of its tastes and the strength of its jaws. ”

“ He is fearless, and will not, like most snakes, get out of your way if he hears you coming, but leaves you to get out of his. He has a bad habit, too, of taking his walks at night; he prefers a path or a road to the grass, and your house or your garden to the forest; while if you step upon him you will never do it again. They have introduced the mongoose, who has cleared the snakes out of Jamaica, to deal with him; but the mongoose knows the creature that he has to encounter, and as yet has made little progress in extirpating him. ”

“ So when people say, as if it were conclusive, that they have seen a snake draw blood from a mongoose, and the mongoose recover from the bite, they are recording nothing more extraordinary than if they themselves had drawn the blood with a needle. As for the mongoose curing itself of snake-bite by eating some herb which is an antidote, there would be nothing incredible in such a proceeding. There are far more wonderful facts than that in Nature authenticated beyond all dispute. ”

“ The mongoose at times is mischievous; and not unfrequently during the night invades the poultry-yard; and when intent on making an entrance into a hen-roost, is a difficult thief to keep out, for the creature manages to creep through very small openings and crevices. Having once succeeded in forcing its way in, the mongoose, like many others of its tribe, not content with obtaining a single fowl sufficient to furnish a hearty meal, is given to the bad habit of slaying half a dozen or more unfortunates, which it never attempts to carry off, but leaves scattered about the floor. ”

“ The snake invariably attempts to escape, but, finding it impossible to evade the rapid onslaught of the mongoose, raises his crest and lashes out fiercely at his little persecutor, who seems to delight in dodging out of the way just in time. This goes on until the mongoose sees his opportunity, when like lightning he rushes in and seizes the snake with his teeth by the back of the neck close to the head, shaking him as a terrier does a rat. ”

“ They're a kind of a big weasel that eats snakes. But when a mongoose finds one it bristles up all its fur, which is very thick, and makes its tail like a bottle brush, and begins darting round and round the snake, a kind of dancing. The snake strikes at it, but only hits the fur, and out comes the poison and does no harm; and the mongoose goes on capering, offering the snake its bushy tail to strike at, till the snake is tired out. ”

“ If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot—snake’s blow against mongoose’s jump—and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake’s head when it strikes, this makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb. ”

“ One bite from a mongoose is enough for a snake, but it gives it a dozen all along its body, and then it eats it up like a carrot. Take my advice. If you have ever got a mongoose after you, don't stop to fight, but slip into a hole as quick as you can or you'll be eaten up like a carrot in about half an hour; and that's quicker work than your poison, after all, isn't it, my gentle durissus? Above all, don't go rattling. A mongoose doesn't believe in a snake's 'good intentions.'"
"Was it by our rattling that you used to find us at the Salt Lake?" ”

“ The little ichneumon (a Greek word signifying a follower of the tracks or footsteps) or mongoose of India, is, however, a bright exception to this rule, for not only will he, when so disposed, without fear of consequences readily enter into mortal combat with the most venomous descriptions of snakes, but will even seek them out, attack, slay, and devour them, their young, or eggs, in their various strongholds and hiding-places.
The common gray mongoose (Herpestes griseus) , called by the natives of Northern India 'Néwelá,' is exceedingly abundant everywhere. ”

“ It has been an interest to me to make a study of the character of my mongoose, for a wild creature rendered perfectly tame by unvarying kind treatment gives one an excellent opportunity of observing the real nature of the animal. ”

“ For, as you know yourself, after you have struck a certain number of times all your poison is gone, and you are no longer 'venomous.' And the snake knows it, and instead of striking when the mongoose comes close to it, it only bobs its head in imitation of striking and hisses, and then the mongoose knows the snake is harmless, and in a twinkling it gives it a bite. ”

“ But it is certain that in most cases the mongoose, by its activity, and by setting up the hair on its body, which makes the snake "strike short," saves itself from being bitten.
Many descriptions of the encounters between these brave little animals and the cobra have been written. Here is one of the less known: "One of our officers had a tame mongoose, a charming little pet. Whenever we could procure a cobra—and we had many opportunities—we used to turn it out in an empty storeroom, which had a window at some height from the ground, so that it was perfectly safe to stand there and look on. ”

“ As a matter of plain fact, a venomous snake can kill a mongoose as easily as it kills a child. But it seldom gets the chance. The mongoose is inconceivably swift in its attack and parry, and when the snake strikes it only wastes its poison upon fur, just as in the case of the serpent-eating secretary-bird which defends itself with its wings, the reptile wastes it upon feathers. ”

“ For instance, a common belief formerly prevailed 'that a mongoose, when bitten in an engagement with a cobra or other venomous snake, was in the habit of eating some kind of plant or root, which altogether nullified the effects of the poison.' This extraordinary idea yet prevails in some parts of India among certain classes of natives, who to this day maintain that the mongoose, by means of some such specific as I have mentioned, works a self-cure when bitten by a venomous reptile. ”

“ The mongoose in its wild state, if kindly treated, fed with milk, and made a welcome visitant, speedily loses its natural fear of human beings, and not only will pass along the veranda of a house, but if unmolested, soon learns to cross from one room to another by an open door or window. When captured young, it is very easily reared and domesticated, and soon becomes familiarised with the loss of liberty. It is cleanly in its habits, and has no offensive odour pertaining to it, like many of its tribe. ”

“ He spread out his hood more than ever, and Rikki-tikki saw the spectacle-mark on the back of it that looks exactly like the eye part of a hook-and-eye fastening. He was afraid for the minute, but it is impossible for a mongoose to stay frightened for any length of time, and though Rikki-tikki had never met a live cobra before, his mother had fed him on dead ones, and he knew that all a grown mongoose’s business in life was to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that too and, at the bottom of his cold heart, he was afraid. ”

“ The fierce temper, indomitable courage and vaulting appetite of the mongoose would make its actual introduction in any of the warm portions of the United States a horrible calamity. In the southern states, and all along the Pacific slope clear up to Seattle, it could live, thrive and multiply; and the slaughter that it could and would inflict upon our wild birds generally, especially all those that nest and live on the ground, saying nothing of the slaughter of poultry, would drive the American people crazy. ”

“ Rats, too, are killed in great numbers by the mongoose. So in the year 1871, when these animals swarmed in some of the West Indian Islands to such an extent that it was feared that the sugar-cane plantations would be wholly destroyed by them, nine mongooses were set free in Jamaica. Very soon they began to multiply, and the rats began to decrease, till in about two years' time the mischievous little animals were almost entirely destroyed. ”

“ The mongoose frequents gardens, thick hedgerows, and scrub jungle; and if left unmolested, and not hunted by dogs, will often take up its abode in some burrow or hole in a bank in close proximity to inhabited buildings. Though in general nocturnal in habits, yet it may often be seen crossing a road or footpath during the day, usually pausing a moment to look around and make sure that the coast is clear of dogs and suchlike enemies before venturing to cross open ground. ”

“ Originally introduced from India via Jamaica to wage war on that earlier introduction, the rat, which was destroying the sugar cane plantations, the mongoose multiplied beyond all guestly bounds and followed the lantana into the plains and forests. And in the plains and forests it has well nigh destroyed many of the indigenous species of ground-nesting birds, made serious inroads on the ground-nesting imported birds, and compelled all raisers of domestic fowls to build mongoose-proof chicken yards. In the meantime the rats have changed their nesting habits and taken to the trees. ”

“ At the foot of the tree, in a hollow, there lived a serpent; and he was constantly devouring the nestlings of the Herons. Loud were the complaints of the parent birds, until an old Heron thus advised them:—'You should bring some fishes from the pool, and lay them one by one in a line from the hole of yonder Mongoose to the hollow where the Serpent lives. The Mongoose will find him when it comes after the fish, and if it finds him it will kill him.' The advice seemed good, and was acted upon; but in killing the Snake the Mongoose overheard the cry of the young Herons ”

“ When they got to shore the Mongoose shook himself, and Little Black Mingo wrung out her petticoat, and so they both very soon got dry.
The Mongoose then began to poke about for something to eat, and very soon he found the great big pile of Mugger’s eggs. “Oh, joy!” said he, “what’s this?”
“Those are Mugger’s eggs,” said Little Black Mingo.
“I’m not afraid of Muggers!” said the Mongoose; and he sat down and began to crack the eggs, and eat the little muggers as they came out. And he threw the shells into the water, so that the old Mugger should not see that any one had been eating them. ”

“ It possesses in common with the weasel tribe the habit of constantly sitting up on its hind legs to listen or obtain a better view around. I never, however, have observed it feeding in this position, like a squirrel, as has been stated to be the case. The mongoose has not the wandering propensities of the weasel tribe, one day here, the next miles away, but takes up its residence and remains in one particular spot, to which it returns, after roaming through the country around in search of food. A single animal, sometimes a pair, is usually seen at a time, seldom more ”