THE MUNGOOSE 



positive pest to the agriculturalist. For many 

 years I have kept these little mungooses in cap- 

 tivity. They make nice interesting pets, but they 

 will seldom allow themselves to be touched, and 

 when their suspicions are aroused they will snap 

 viciously at the fingers. 



When captured very young and handled daily 

 they become perfectly tame, but will not allow a 

 stranger to approach. 



The sight of a strange dog at all times makes 

 them wild with terror. 



I kept a mungoose for a considerable time in a 

 large wire-netting enclosure, to observe its ways. 

 Whenever it heard a strange sound it stood straight 

 up on its hind legs, peering in all directions from the 

 trunk of a tree which was fixed in its cage. This 

 tree sloped sufficiently for the mungoose to be able 

 to run up it, which it frequently did. In fact it 

 spent most of its time perched on the top of the tree 

 trunk. Its food, which consisted of raw and cooked 

 meat, was always carried up the tree, piece by piece. 

 It disliked its food getting contaminated with dirt, 

 and on picking up a mouthful it Would shake it 

 vigorously. If a live rat was introduced into the 

 enclosure, escape was hopeless, for the mungoose 

 was upon it in an instant. 



Several times I introduced Puff Adders into its 

 cage, and in each instance it succeeded in killing 

 them. The head was always chewed up and 

 swallowed first, then the appetite was satisfied on 



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