THE MUNGOOSE 
tured was kept confined in a large aviary. Into 
this I threw a live Puff Adder. The mungoose, 
with a succession of low growls and grunts, ran 
swiftly into a corner and faced the snake. Presently 
it began snapping at the reptile, taking care to keep 
well beyond striking distance. Tiring of this 
manceuvre, it leaped over the snake, ran three or 
four times round it, with its beady-black shiny 
eyes all the time intently watching every move- 
ment of the. reptile. Eventually perceiving the 
snake to be at a disadvantage, it sprang upon it, 
and next instant, with a backward spring, it was 
out of reach of the serpent’s formidable fangs. 
There was not much need for the precaution, for 
it had so severely crushed the head of the snake 
that it was physically incapable of biting. Care- 
fully watching the reptile for about ten minutes, 
the mungoose ran at it again, seized its head, and 
this time, instead of nipping and letting go, it 
deliberately chewed the head from the body and 
swallowed it. ‘Then it leisurely ate a portion of the 
body, and the remainder the following day. This 
mungoose eventually died of snake-venom poison- 
ing in rather a curious way. After maiming a 
Puff Adder it chewed up and swallowed the head, 
as is usual with the various mungooses; but an 
hour or two after doing so it began to grow sluggish 
in its movements, and its eyes lost their sheen and 
grew increasingly dim and deep-set. It died in 
about ten hours after having eaten the snake’s head. 
29 
