THE MUNGOOSE 



As a general rule it will not molest full-grown 

 fowls, but when pressed by hunger it will not hesi- 

 tate to attack them, and should it enter a fowl- 

 house at night it will probably slay several, eating 

 a little of the flesh of each. However, I have 

 frequently stayed at farm-houses where these mun- 

 gooses were common in the neighbourhood, and 

 unless chickens strayed near their leafy haunts, 

 they were not molested. Should there be an 

 abundance of cover in the shape of undergrowth, 

 thick scrub, and rocks in the immediate vicinity 

 of a farm-house, then the poultry are never at any 

 time safe, if any of these mungooses should be 

 about, unless the poultry are enclosed in wire- 

 mesh runs. 



In the neighbourhood of Port Elizabeth this 

 mungoose is common, and may be seen at any time 

 of day on the roads, railway track, and on the broad 

 fire belts which intersect the demarcated forest. 

 Occasionally chickens are snapped up when their 

 owners allow them to wander amongst the bush. 

 A mungoose of this species will rarely venture far 

 from cover, for it has a wholesome fear of dogs, 

 and knows full well that if surprised out in the 

 open by a dog it can easily be overtaken, and, 

 although it fights to the death, it is no match even 

 for a terrier. People living in the vicinity of the 

 town who keep their fowls in wire-netting enclosures, 

 never lose any from the attacks of these mungooses, 

 although they may inhabit the adjacent scrub. 

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