NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



caught young and treated with gentleness, this 

 mungoose soon becomes tame and allows itself to 

 be freely handled. If, however, it is a quarter or 

 half -grown before being taken into captivity, it 

 never altogether loses its dread of man, and when 

 attempts are made to caress it, the creature will 

 snap viciously at the fingers. 



The diet of the White-tailed Mungoose is similar 

 to that of other species, viz. rats, mice, reptiles, 

 and insects. It also preys on Klip Dassies or Rock 

 Rabbits, Cane Rats, and young hares, as well as 

 game birds, their young and eggs. When the 

 Migratory Locust is abundant it lives almost ex- 

 clusively upon it, and waxes fat. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of man this large mungoose is invariably 

 a pest, as sooner or later it becomes a poultry thief ; 

 but away from the habitations of man it fulfils its 

 mission in life to the full by doing its share in re- 

 ducing the number of destructive rodents and 

 harmful insects. It is a most useful animal to have 

 on sugar plantations, for it will keep in check or 

 actually exterminate those destructive rodent 

 animals known as Cane Rats or Ground Pigs. 



The White-tailed Mungoose attains a compara- 

 tively large size, averaging a couple of feet from the 

 nose to the root of the tail. The tail is about a 

 foot and a half in length. 



The general colour of the fur is blackish grey. 

 The longer hairs are ringed black and white, 

 the tips being black. The tail is bushy from 



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