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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