Mongoose

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

The small Indian mongoose, Herpestes auropunctatus, was first introduced into the West Indies in the 1870s and to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1880s. It was brought to Hawaii in an attempt to control rats in the sugarcane plantations.

Mongooses have long bodies, short legs and small rounded ears placed on the side of the head. Their tails average half to three-quarters their body length. Males are slightly larger than females.

Mongooses have a large anal sac containing at least two glandular openings. Scent marking with anal and sometimes cheek glands can communicate the sex, sexual receptivity, and individual and pack identity of the marker.

The structure of the teeth and feet reflect the diet. The small Indian mongoose has well-developed carnassial teeth used to shear flesh. Their feet have four or five digits each tipped by long, non-retractile claws adapted for digging.

DISTRIBUTION:

Small Indian mongooses are native to Southeast Asia, Cashmere to Iraq and Thailand. Introduced to the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands.

BEHAVIOR:

Mongooses are highly agile animals. With their slender bodies they can run up to a wall or corner at full speed and turn without slowing down. They can stand on their hind legs, make small leaps into the air, and roll into a ball. Although they are ground dwellers, mongooses can climb about with skill on cage gratings, trellises, or trusted people. They usually move backward when climbing down.

Small Indian mongooses are diurnal, active in daylight, and at night they withdraw into dens. They are usually solitary, the only stable social unit consisting of a mother and her offspring. Mongooses often stay around human habitations, and frequently are kept as pets.

DIET:

Most mongooses feed on small vertebrates, insects and other invertebrates, and occasionally fruits. In the Zoo they are fed dead chicks and dog chow.

The mongoose sniffs along the surface of the ground and when it finds an insect it either snaps it up from the surface or digs it from its underground home.

REPRODUCTION and GROWTH:

The small Indian mongoose seldom lives past the age of four years.

Females may become pregnant at nine months. Breeding seasons vary depending on environmental conditions.

Although the small Indian mongoose has been persecuted by many, it is still widespread and abundant. It is considered a pest because of its attacks on chickens and native fauna.