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THE STORY OF THE MUN GOOSE. 



being bitten by his wonderful activity. He appears to wait till the snake 

 makes a dart at him, and then suddenly pounces upon the reptile's head 

 and crunches it to pieces. I have seen a mungoose eat up the head and 

 poison glands of a large cobra, so the poison must be harmless to the 

 mucous membrane of the former animal. When excited, the mungoose 

 erects its long stiff hair, and it must be very difificult for a snake to drive 

 its fangs through this and through the thick skin which all kinds of mun- 



HOW THE MUNGOOSE FIGHTS. 

 (Killing a Cobra and attacking a Great Bustard.) 



gooses possess. In all probability a mungoose is very rarely scratched by 

 the fangs, and, if he is, very little poison can be injected. It has been 

 repeatedly proved by experiments that a mungoose can be killed, like any 

 other animal, if properly bitten by a venomous snake, though even in this 

 case the effects appear to be produced after a longer period than with other 

 mammals of the same size. 



In addition to beinsf a benefactor to the human race as a destrover of 



