THE MUNGOOSE 
evolved by the Creator to fulfil important missions 
in the economy of Nature. As a rule, the farmer 
does not trouble himself to become acquainted 
with the animals of veld, forest, mountain, and 
stream, except for the purpose of knowing where 
to look for them in order to hunt them to death 
with dogs, or to amuse himself by shooting them 
wantonly. His children, with such an example set 
them, grow up regarding birds, animals, and other 
creatures as providing a means by which they may be- 
guile leisure time in hunting and shooting them, and 
by so doing often bringing retribution upon them- 
selves in the form of plagues of rats, mice, locusts, 
and other insects, as well as many stock diseases. 
The Banded Mungoose is so called because of 
the presence of about twenty alternate black and 
dull white bands on the hind half of the body ; 
each white band on its posterior part gradually - 
shades into rufous before joining the black band. 
The alternate black and white bands are caused by 
the individual hairs, which are ringed black and 
dirty white, being arranged in such a way that the 
colours show up as bands. 
The limbs are darker than the back, and nearly 
black towards the toes. The tarsus is bare, and 
there are five toes to each foot. Length of the 
head and body about sixteen inches ; the tail is of 
about half. this length, and black towards the tip. 
There is a local race or sub-species (Crossarchus 
fasciatus senescens) in Portuguese East Africa. 
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