Mongoose
|
|
| Mongooses | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dwarf Mongoose | ||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||
|
17 genera, see text |
The "Mongoose" is any member of the Herpestidae family of small, cat-like carnivores. They are found in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and southern Europe in more than thirty species, ranging between one and four feet in length. Mongooses feed on insects, crabs, worms, lizards, and other small creatures (as well as eggs and sometimes fruits), but they are best known for their ability to fight and kill venomous snakes such as the cobra (ophiophagy). They are able to do this because of their speed, agility, and resistance to the venom of most snakes (the viper being a notable exception). It is said that some mongooses will actually eat the venom glands of snakes.
The most famous popular artistic representation of the animal is in the Jungle Book story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" by Rudyard Kipling, which depicts the adventures of a young mongoose defending his human family from murderous cobras.
Since the word "goose" is linguistically unrelated to the word "mongoose," the plural of mongoose is not "mongeese" but rather "mongooses."