Mongoose beast. Banded mongoose
An animal surprisingly similar to a marten lives in Asia and the African continent. But even in our country, everyone who watched the cartoon “Rikki – Tikki – Tavi”, based on the works of R. Kipling, is familiar with him. This is the animal mongoose.
What does a mongoose look like?
A strong, slightly elongated body on low paws, a narrow, pretty muzzle and a long fluffy tail - this is a brief portrait of a mongoose.
The unusually thick fur of this animal can have different colors, depending on the species to which it belongs, or even a pattern in the form of spots and stripes. And despite hot climate, in which he lives, it is simply necessary for the mongoose, as it can protect him from snake bites.
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The size of the animal mongoose, again, depending on the species, can range from 25 to 75 cm, and weight from 1.5 to 6 kg. There are five fingers on the short paws, on which rather powerful and non-retractable claws grow, which characterizes the mongoose as an excellent hunter. The beautiful and intelligent eyes of this furry animal are very sharp. He also has an excellent sense of smell. But his hearing is rather weak.
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In the mongoose’s mouth there are two rows of unusually strong and sharp teeth, which, like its claws, are successfully used during hunting.
Where does the mongoose live?
As mentioned earlier, the mongoose’s homeland is Asia and Africa. Here it settles almost everywhere - deserts, forests, shores of reservoirs... Everything again depends on the species to which this or that individual belongs. At the same time, it does not matter at all to them that it is outside - day or night - mongooses can be active at any time of the day. They can run, skip, jump or just hunt... The tireless mongoose seems to never sleep at all.
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What does a mongoose eat?
Mongooses are predators, but it is safe to say that they are tireless hunters. Their diet mainly consists of insects, small invertebrates and crustaceans.
Listen to the mongoose's voice
By the way, the fact cited in the legendary cartoon “Rikki – Tikki – Tavi” about how mongooses hunt cobras is an exaggeration. But if hunger or fear presses you... and you won’t be well.
Mongoose lifestyle
Mongooses lead an exclusively terrestrial lifestyle, and at the same time they have enough natural enemies. The main ones are large predator birds, which, while still at altitude, look out for furry animals and attack.
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Even more defenseless in this regard are baby mongooses, who, due to their immaturity and weakness, do not even have time to run to the hole and hide.
As for the latter, they are born after pregnancy, which lasts 60 days. Babies are born very weak and blind, and luxurious fur has not yet formed on the body, and the covering is slightly pubescent.
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During the first period of their life, mongoose cubs feed on their mother’s milk and grow quite quickly, which allows them to go on their first hunt under the supervision of their parents at the age of 3 months. And here begins, perhaps, the most difficult period, when it is necessary to save not only your life, but also the life of the cubs. In this case, mongooses behave not only bravely, standing on end, bristling their fur and making threatening sounds, but also own secret weapon– raising their gorgeous tail up, they release a stream of foul-smelling liquid, thereby scaring away enemies. And in case of severe danger, mongooses can attack the enemy, even if he is larger in size.
A nimble animal and a fearless opponent of snakes is the mongoose. There are quite a lot of representatives of this genus, more than 70 species. Small predator, feeding on bird eggs, mice, and insects, hunts mainly at night. The brownish-gray color of its fur helps it to be invisible. An excellent sense of smell, excellent hearing and a keen eye make the mongoose an excellent hunter.
Rumor has endowed the animal with an instinct that forces it to rush into battle at the sight of a snake. This is wrong. Given the opportunity, the animal will definitely evade the fight. The opinion that mongooses are immune to snake venom, wrong. They are defenseless against fatal bite on a par with other animals. Nimble kids defeat snakes solely thanks to their dexterity and resourcefulness.
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The animal's distribution area is the tropics of the Old World. The animal lives in bushes, on the banks of rivers overgrown with reeds, and in rocky areas. All varieties of savannas are a haven for the mongoose. Quite often settles in houses or on personal plots. Along with the benefits, the prankster can cause significant harm to the farm, ruining clutches and stealing eggs.
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Hindus love to keep mongoose as a pet. The animal is friendly, has a cheerful disposition, is easily tamed and is attached to its owners. There are many examples when little friend saved his owners by fearlessly throwing himself at a snake that was several times larger than him. A similar case was described by R. Kipling in his famous book.
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In addition, the mongoose perfectly replaces the cat and short term exterminates all rodents in the house. He does not disdain small crustaceans. And the juicy fruits native trees and berries complement his diet. The animals are excellent at climbing trees, reaching the nests of small birds hidden in the leaves and eating their eggs.
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Mongooses live in families and alone. You can meet them in the most unusual places. The animal can hide in the roots of a tree or a hollow. An old termite mound or a rusty drainpipe would be quite suitable for his home. Representatives of this family are unpretentious and use any suitable crevice for shelter.
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Most mongoose species raise their young together. The cubs actively take advantage of this. Having approached his relative, the baby begins to squeal heart-rendingly, and the poor fellow has no choice but to go in search of food to annoy him.
The content of the article:
If you are looking for some original pet, turn your attention to the mongoose. In our nature it is difficult to find a more cheerful, playful and loyal friend from the animal kingdom. In addition, he is very smart and clean, so caring for him is a pleasure and just a little bit of nuance. Get to know him better and you will understand that he is perfect a pet, and besides, an excellent friend and comrade who will always be waiting for you and at any moment can easily cheer you up with his games, pranks and fun activities.
The origin of the amazing animal mongoose
Humanity first heard about such a unique living creature as the mongoose in 1811 from the scientist Illiger, but, probably, most of people living on our planet learned about this animal not from the pages scientific literature. Gotta give it credit famous writer Rudyard Kipling, who wrote his amazing story about the little mongoose hero, better known as Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Who among us does not know the sad, and at the same time amazing story little mongoose, which disaster I was deprived of my home, and most importantly, my parents. But even in such a sad situation, the handsome brave man did not lose his head, but became the real pride of his family, and of the entire family, because he saved a child from a snake attack - isn’t that worth a lot? Probably everyone who read this fascinating fairy tale, even for a minute, dreamed of such an amazing pet.
People involved in science have classified this animal into the class Mammalian, the order Carnivora, the suborder Felidae, the family Mongoose and the genus Mongoose.
Description of mongoose varieties and their characteristic features
According to many scientific sources in nature there are over 15 various types these amazing animals. The most studied of them are presented to your attention.
Yellow or fox-faced mongoose. Area natural spread of this representative of the world fauna spreads over such countries African continent like South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern part Angola and many others. As my permanent place This animal prefers to live in savannas and semi-desert areas.
By its nature, the fox-shaped mongoose is an excellent burrow builder, but most often it is too lazy to dig its own house, so usually he simply inhabits holes previously dug by other animals, for example, gophers. In the event that its immediate owner still lives in the hole that the mongoose likes, then he, in turn, will not hesitate to simply move in with him. In the same house with gophers, they feel quite comfortable, without creating any problems or troubles for their roommate.
These delightful little animals do not really like to be alone, probably for this reason they never live alone on their territory; they usually live in small social groups, in which there are from five to nine animals.
The period of activity of mongooses falls in the daytime, when it is dark outside, they try to sleep in their homes, it’s safer, and they don’t have anyone to hunt during the day. The basis of the mongoose diet is small rodents and gaping birds, from the latter they can steal several eggs from the nest, but most often the animals have to satisfy outbreaks of hunger with insects, it is easier to catch them, and it is not so difficult and time-consuming to search for such prey.
New additions to the families of these pretty mammals occur once or less often twice a year. The gestation period for a female mongoose lasts approximately 55–62 days; at the end of this period, one to three newborn mongooses are born. For 50–60 days, babies eat exclusively mother's milk, after which the mother gradually accustoms them to more adult food. They reach sexual maturity at approximately one year of age.
As for the exterior features of this animal, we can say that it is a medium-sized feline. The length of its body is approximately 26–40 cm, the caudal process grows to no more than 30 cm. Body weight adult Mongoose weight ranges from 500 to 900 grams, although there is evidence that animals living in captivity weigh up to 1000–1200 grams.
The entire surface of the body of this cute creature is covered with not very long, but very thick, soft and fluffy fur. If we talk about the color of the fur of mongooses, it varies not only depending on the time of year, but also on geographical distribution animal. So, for those individuals that live in the southern part of the range, the fur is presented in reddish-yellowish shades, while for those living in the north, the fur is colored in grayish-yellow tones. Most often in winter period The animal's coloring becomes paler and more inconspicuous, but with the arrival of spring everything changes. The projection of the abdominal cavity and the final part of the caudal process are usually always several tones lighter than the main color scheme.
Striped mongoose, mungo or zebra mongoose. The body length of this representative of the mongoose varies from 30 to 48 cm, the tail grows up to 28 cm. An adult weighs approximately 1500–2500 grams.
Almost the entire body of the Mungo is covered with quite long and thick fur, very hard in texture, which gradually lengthens closer to the tail process. Only the abdominal area is almost devoid of hair. Very interesting color In this animal, the whole point is that every single hair on its body is colored in a unique way. At the base it is presented in light shades, closer to the middle two are drawn wide stripes dark in color and at the tip the shade approaches black-brown. For the reason that all hair different lengths, then this is how such a beautiful and original ornament is formed on the body of the striped mongoose.
Its head is relatively small, its face is short and slightly pointed. It has small round ears. The limbs of this mammal are a little short relative to the size of the body, but it also seems so due to the fact that along their entire length they are covered with fur, which is colored identically to the color of the dorsal part of the animal’s body. Mungos have 5 toes on their front paws, and only 4 on their hind paws. Thumbs The forelimbs end in a long claw, its length is approximately 7–9 mm, this is a kind of device for digging holes. All the other claws, although much longer, cannot be used by the mongoose to dig with them, since they are curved in shape.
The natural habitat of this beautiful predator is southern and central part African continent, largest populations found in Senegal, Gambia, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. These animals settle mainly in savannas and open forests, the main thing for them is that there is some kind of body of water not far from their home. They try to avoid desert and semi-desert areas, as well as mountainous areas.
The period of activity for these forest inhabitants occurs in the morning hours, as well as during twilight; during the day, when the sun scatters its scorching rays, the Mungo prefers to lie down in its shelters. Termite mounds or rock crevices are most often used as the latter; they can easily climb a tree, but this is more likely not out of necessity, but because they have nothing to do, because they also get bored.
We can say about these animals that they are big fans of travel, and especially moving from place to place; they never live in the same shelter for longer than 2-4 days, only during the breeding season can they put their “packed suitcases” aside. aside.
In their territories, zebra mongooses usually live in large colonies of over 25–40 individuals, and if they are lucky enough to find a place of residence near agricultural holdings, then the number of members is social group doubles. All individuals of such groups spend the night together in one shelter; at sunrise, adult mongooses go in search of food, while their babies remain at home.
Relations between members of such a family are very friendly, but as soon as some stranger appears on their territory, they will certainly drive him away; at such moments, these cute and kind little animals are prone to sudden outbursts of strong aggression. If you have complained about their possessions whole group strangers, they rarely show hospitality, usually such visits end in fights and bloodshed, if only the number of this group is smaller, if there are a lot of guests, then the owners of their territory usually resort to the most reliable method of self-defense, namely, flight.
In nature, they feed mainly on arthropods; most often, various bugs and centipedes end up on their dinner table. Mungo won't refuse snails either, bird eggs and even from a variety of fruits. For the sake of a tasty dinner, these interesting mongooses are ready to make many sacrifices, even rummaging through the dung of some large animals. This may seem disgusting and disgusting to some, but for a zebra animal, manure is a storehouse of tasty insects.
Southern dwarf mongoose. These are the smallest representatives of their genus, their body grows no more than 25 cm in length, the length of the tail varies from 10 to 18 cm. The average body weight is approximately 230–300 grams. The fur of these mini-mongooses is predominantly grayish or brown in color. But in nature there are also individuals that Mother Nature painted in a jet black color, while the neck and chest area shimmers with a beautiful slightly reddish tint, but the tail process and limbs are usually much darker than the entire body.
These delightful creatures are distributed from Ethiopia to Angola; large populations of dwarf animals are also observed in the eastern part of Africa. These miniature mammals live in savannas, slightly dense forests and semi-desert regions.
These cute little mongooses are active mainly during the daytime. They are very social animals by nature and live in groups. average number, the leader of such a social colony is most often a dominant female; if it happens that the leader of the group dies, then usually such a family breaks up.
Dwarf mongooses feed mainly only on insects, and sometimes they can eat a snail. In order to break a snail's shell, this clever animal throws it with its hind legs against a stone.
Today, such animals are already being kept as pets, and although not yet en masse, they are still quite successful. The thing is that keeping such an exotic pupil in your home is truly a pleasure; any troubles rarely arise with him.
Before you bring this amazing little animal into your home, make sure that he has his own personal roof over his head. A large, spacious cage is good for the latter. It should be equipped with an entertainment area and a place to relax. Well, the fluffy mongoose really likes to have fun, so it’s good to install some kind of climbing devices in his house, these could be shelves nailed to different levels, as well as ordinary thick tree branches, you can build him something like a swing. Also don't forget that pet- this is also a family member and sometimes he needs to be given gifts, the mongoose will be very happy with a couple of toys, for example, balls, rattles or other small things. When you are not in the house, he will find a use for them.
This fellow from Africa feels great in the house, in addition, he is very well-mannered and reserved by nature, so the door to his cage should be closed only when you leave the house for a long time. Of course, you don’t have to do this at all, but then there is a risk that the mongoose will lose interest in his toys and start looking for adventure in your house, and he will find something to play with there. These could be books, dishes, clothes, and other valuables; in addition, he could easily open the window and inadvertently fall out. From time to time you may be struck by the thought that there are two different mongooses in the cage and in the apartment. After all, in the cage he doesn’t have much to do, there he just eats and sleeps sweetly, free space is another matter; when he goes out into the wild, he immediately transforms from a lazy animal into a very funny pet.
If the mongoose has a free exit from his home, be prepared for the fact that he will go there extremely rarely, because playing and running around the apartment is much more interesting, and sleeping on the sofa or next to you in the bedroom is generally a sacred thing .
By their nature, these animals are very clean, and also very smart, so there shouldn’t be any problems with the toilet; it won’t be difficult to train a mongoose to relieve itself in a tray, but you need to choose a container that’s a little larger than a cat tray.
Someone may have a question: “What should you do with this domestic predator in your home?” The answer to it is very simple, just give him the due amount of your time and attention and this will be more than enough for him, well, of course, don’t forget to feed him. Pets such as mongooses very quickly get used to new living conditions and also quickly become attached to their owners. Soon after moving into your home, these animals become tame, and they are also very interesting to talk to. You may not understand much, but this talker is always telling something and this is by no means an exaggeration. This “conversation” is more reminiscent of a quiet, pleasant-sounding chirping, so he may be informing you how his day went, complaining if he bumped somewhere or didn’t like something, or is trying to share some little joy. Often with their sounds they invite you to play.
Domestic mongooses are quite capable of responding to their name. If there is another animal living in your house, then there is no need to worry about this; your mongoose will only be glad that it has a friend.
Feeding this exotic comrade at home is not a problem, he is not at all picky about food, he will eat whatever you give him, just don’t get carried away, you shouldn’t treat him to sausage or pickles, he may not refuse such delicacies, but for This is very harmful to his body. The basis of his diet may be various insects, frogs, chicken meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables and nuts. It’s good to give this friend the opportunity to feel like a hunter; throw a frog or some kind of bug into his cage; he’ll definitely like it. The main thing is that his daily menu is varied and balanced.
Purchase and price of mongoose
There may not be very many breeders of these friendly animals on the territory of Russia, since domestic mongooses are a rare occurrence, but it is still possible to find them, just carefully check all the documents you are interested in for the animal. average cost for such a nice friend ranges from 20,000 to 70,000 rubles.
Mongoose fight king cobra in the following video:
Mongoose to his appearance looks like a marten. It has a strong body, low paws, a narrow elongated muzzle and a fluffy tail, which has a conical shape. Thick fur protects against snake bites. The color of the fluffy fur is different, the animals can wear different outfits, depending on the species. The fur coat of some individuals has a pattern in the form of stripes or spots.
The size ranges from 23 to 75 cm, and the weight ranges from 1.5 to 6 kg. The paws have five toes with non-retractable claws. He has beautiful, intelligent eyes, and sharp ones at that. The animal's sense of smell is excellent, but its hearing is worse. There are sharp, insidious teeth in the mouth - formidable weapon. Animals live in Africa and Asia. They prefer to settle in deserts, tropical forests and near bodies of water.
The animals feed on insects, crustaceans and small invertebrates. They are active both at night and during the day. They move hastily - at a trot, but can also run and gallop.
Mongooses caring parents. To protect themselves from the enemy, they secrete a strong-smelling liquid and use it to mark their territory. They take a stance in front of the enemy: they arch their back, their fur stands on end, their tail is raised to the top like a pipe. They can jump on the attacker. These are fast, smart animals with very good reactions. They make sounds all the time, chirping, sometimes screaming and squeaking loudly. They are sociable among themselves and communicate using sounds. Most often, of course, warning each other about danger.
The main enemies are those floating in the sky. The most vulnerable are the cubs who do not have time to run to the hole and hide. The female's pregnancy lasts approximately 60 days. Blind cubs are born, their body is covered sparse hair. For the first two weeks they live in a hole and do not go out anywhere. They feed on mother's milk. They go hunting at the age of 3 months. We will talk about some of the mongoose species below.
Lifespan of a mongoose
Features and habitat of the mongoose
Mongoose(from the Latin Herpestes) is a mammal from the order of predators of the mongoose family.
This family was separated from the civet family due to some differences in mongoose animals, such as rounded ears, odorous anal glands and others.
Has a medium-sized slender oblong body from 20 to 75 centimeters, small size head with an elongated muzzle and small ears, pretty a long tail, reaching body length and four short limbs with non-retractable claws.
The color of these mammals is predominantly monotonous gray and brown. Some species have stripes and ring patterns on their tails. One of animals outwardly very mongoose-like is a ferret. The habitat of mongooses is southern Europe, Asia and Africa.
The mongoose family is very extensive and contains 35 species, which are grouped into 14 genera:
Water mongooses;
Black-footed mongooses(fuzzy-tailed, black-footed and Jackson's mongoose);
Cuzimanza (Zairean, Angolan, long-nosed, flat-headed cuzimanza);
Yellow mongooses;
Dybovsky's mongoose;
African mongooses(South African mongoose, slender mongoose, rufous and buffy mongoose);
Dwarf mongooses(tiny and dwarf mongooses);
Genus Mongoose (small, short-tailed, common, brown, Egyptian, Javan, long-nosed, collared, Indian, band-necked and crabeater mongoose);
White-tailed mongooses;
Liberian mongoose;
Striped mongooses(striped and Gambian);
Gray mongoose;
Umbi;
Meerkat.
From most of the names of genera and species themselves, one can understand the differences between animals from each other. Also, you can easily look at all these differences between animals by studying photo of mongooses.
Character and lifestyle of the mongoose
The mongoose is not a solitary animal; it usually lives in groups of up to 40-50 individuals. Leads both daytime and night look terrestrial life.
For safety and reproduction, they dig underground holes for themselves or inhabit those abandoned by someone. Some species live in the roots of trees, and sometimes even in low hollows.
These mammals hunt mainly in packs, telling each other about the location of the prey with peculiar sounds reminiscent of a whistle. Often, when hunting, in order to detect prey, mongooses stand on hind legs and look out for their game in the surrounding area.
The fame of mongooses among the ordinary population of our planet was brought by the writer Joseph Rudyard Kipling, who wrote a fairy tale about the winner of a cobra. mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi based on which a cartoon of the same name was released in the Soviet Union in 1965 cartoon, then together with Indian cinema in 1975 it was released into the vastness of our country Feature Film with the same name.
The dexterity and maneuverability of mongooses prompted our armed forces to name the high-speed boats of the 12150 series “Mongoose” produced in their honor since 2000. The Italian military also decided to keep up with ours and in 2007 invented and began producing for Turkish army attack helicopters called "Agusta A129 "Mongoose".
Mongoose nutrition
The mongoose spends most of its waking time hunting for food. His world-famous agility and speed allows him to hunt even nimble and fast small vertebrate mammals such as mice, rats, small birds and even invertebrate snakes, including poisonous ones.
In addition, the diet of these animals includes insects and larvae. Separate mongoose species, living near bodies of water, eat crustaceans such as snails, crabs and clams.
Some species are omnivorous and in addition animal food They eat plants, fruits, berries, nuts and various seeds. There are interesting observations of how mongooses crack nuts– taking the nut with its forelimbs, the animal stands on its hind legs, lifts the nut above itself and throws it on the ground, thereby breaking the shell.
Due to its unusual nature in the form of hunting poisonous snakes, these mammals are very popular in India and are very often owned mongooses as pets. Moreover, the animal takes root well and gets accustomed to home conditions and is quite unpretentious to homemade food.
Some entrepreneurs in this country specifically breed these mammals and, on the market, anyone can buy animal mongoose to your home. For local population mongoose value not so great in money as in a kind of guardian of the human home from various kinds snake.
Mongoose reproduction and lifespan
Mongooses reach sexual maturity at one year of age. They do not have a specific mating period, depending on the species and habitat mating seasons mongooses pass through different seasons.
After mating, they bear offspring for 60 days, preparing their home for their appearance. The litter of mongooses ranges from one to four cubs. After birth, they are blind and feed on their mother's milk for a month. They begin to move independently after 1.5-2 weeks.
The females of these animals are very caring mothers. Moreover, they often take care of both their children and the children of other females living in the pack. Before independent life mothers protect their cubs in everything, bring them food, teach them to hunt, and make sure that they do not stray too far from the shelter.
Very often, without keeping an eye on your child, baby mongoose become food for others more large predators. One of the animals that eats the mongoose are birds of prey, which, seeing the animal from afar, suddenly rush down, grabbing their prey with their claws and dragging them into their nest. Large cat predators also like to feast on mongooses.
The life expectancy of mongooses is not long and reaches an average of 6-8 years. At home and in zoos, these animals live a little longer, the longest lifespan known to currently reaches 12 years of age.
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