Pedigree of a cute predator, common varieties of mongoose and their features, advice on keeping and caring for an exotic at home, the price of the animal. In the event that you are looking for some original pet, turn your attention to the mongoose. In our nature, it's hard to find a more fun, playful, and loyal animal companion. In addition, he is very smart and clean, so caring for him is a pleasure and quite a bit of nuance. Get to know him better and you will understand that this is an ideal pet, and besides, a great friend and companion who will always wait for you and at any moment can easily cheer you up with his games, antics and fun fun.
The origin of the amazing animal mongoose
Humanity first heard about such a kind of living creature as the mongoose in 1811 from the scientist Illiger, but probably still most of the people living on our planet learned about this animal not at all from the pages of scientific literature. We must pay tribute to the famous writer Rudyard Kipling, who wrote his amazing story about the little mongoose hero, who is better known as Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. Who among us does not know the sad and at the same time amazing story of a little mongoose, which was deprived of his home by a natural disaster, and most importantly his parents. But even in such a sad situation, the pretty brave man did not lose his head, but became the real pride of his family, and of the whole family, because he saved the child from the attack of a snake - isn't it worth a lot. Probably everyone who has read this fascinating tale, even for a minute, dreamed of such an amazing pet.
Scientists have classified this animal into the mammalian class, the carnivorous order, the feline suborder, the mongoose family, and the mongoose genus.
Description of the varieties of mongoose and their characteristic features
According to many scientific sources, there are over 15 different species of these adorable animals in nature. The most studied of them are presented to your attention.
Yellow or fox-shaped mongoose. The natural distribution area of this representative of the world fauna is spread over such countries of the African continent as South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, southern Angola and many others. This animal prefers to choose savannas and semi-desert areas as its permanent residence.
By its nature, the fox-shaped mongoose is an excellent burrow-builder, but more often than not he is lazy to dig his own house, so he usually just settles in burrows dug by other animals, for example, ground squirrels. In the event that its direct owner lives in the hole that the mongoose liked, then he, in turn, will not hesitate to simply settle down to him. In the same house with gophers, they feel quite comfortable, without creating any problems and troubles for their roommate.
These adorable animals do not really like to be alone, probably for this reason they never live alone on their territory, they usually live in small social groups, in which there are from five to nine animals.
The period of activity of mongooses falls on the daytime, when it is dark outside, they try to sleep in their homes, and it is safer, well, they have no one to hunt during the day. The basis of the mongoose diet are small rodents, gape birds, in the latter they can pull several eggs from the nest, but most often insects have to quench outbreaks of hunger, and it is easier to catch them, and it is not so hard and long to search for such prey.
The families of these pretty mammals are replenished once or less often twice a year. The period of bearing babies in a female mongoose lasts approximately 55–62 days, at the end of this period one to three newborn mongoose are born. For 50-60 days, babies feed exclusively on mother's milk, after which their mother gradually accustom them to more adult food. They reach sexual maturity at about one year of age.
As for the features of the exterior of this animal, we can say that it is a medium-sized cat-like one. The length of its body is approximately 26-40 cm, the tail process grows no more than 30 cm. The body weight of an adult mongoose varies from 500 to 900 grams, although there is information that animals living in captivity weigh about 1000-1200 gram.
The entire surface of the body of this cute creature is not very long, but very thick, soft and fluffy fur. If we talk about the color of the fur, then it differs in mongooses not only depending on the season, but also on the geographical distribution of the animal. So in those individuals that live in the southern part of the range, the fur is presented in reddish-yellowish shades, in the inhabitants of the north, the fur is painted in grayish-yellow tones. Most often, in winter, the color of the animal becomes paler and more inconspicuous, but with the arrival of spring everything changes. The projection of the abdominal cavity and the terminal part of the caudal process are usually always several shades lighter than the basic color scheme.
Striped mongoose, mungo or zebra mongoose. The body length of this representative of the mongoose varies from 30 to 48 cm, the tail grows up to 28 cm. An adult weighs approximately 1500–2500 grams.
Almost the entire body of the mungo is covered with a rather long and thick coat, very coarse in texture, which gradually lengthens closer to the caudal process. Only the abdominal area is almost devoid of hair. This animal has a very interesting color, the thing is that each individual hair on its body is colored in its own way. At the base, it is presented in light shades, two wide stripes of a dark color are drawn closer to the middle, and at the tip the shade approaches black-brown. For the reason that all hairs are of different lengths, this is how such a beautiful and original ornament is formed on the body of a striped mongoose.
Its head is relatively small, its snout is short and slightly pointed. Small rounded ears flaunt on it. The limbs of this mammal are a little short in relation to body size, but it also seems so due to the fact that along the entire length they are covered with fur, which is colored identically to the coloring of the dorsal part of the animal's body. On the front legs of the Mungo there are 5 toes, on the hind legs there are only 4. The thumbs of the forelimbs end in a long claw, its length is about 7-9 mm, this is a kind of device for digging holes. All other claws, although much longer, but the mongoose cannot dig with them, since they are curved in shape.
The natural habitat of this beautiful predator is the southern and central part of the African continent, the largest populations are found in Senegal, Gambia, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. These animals settle mainly in savannah and open forests, the main thing for them is that there should be some kind of body of water not far from their house. They try to bypass desert and semi-desert areas, as well as mountainous areas.
The period of activity for these forest dwellers falls in the morning hours, as well as at dusk, while in the afternoon, when the sun scatters its scorching rays, the mungo prefers to lie down in its shelters. As the latter, termite mounds or crevices of rocks are most often used, they can easily climb a tree, but this is more likely not for necessity, but because of nothing to do, because they also get bored. We can say about these animals that they are big fans of travel, and especially moving from place to place, they never live in the same shelter longer than 2-4 days, only during the breeding season can they put their "packed suitcases" in sideways.
On their territories, zebra mongooses usually live in large colonies, numbering over 25–40 individuals, and if they are lucky enough to find a place of residence near agricultural holdings, then the number of members of such a social group doubles. All individuals of such groups spend the night together in the same shelter, with sunrise, adult mongooses go in search of food, while their kids stay at home.
The relations between members of such a family are very friendly, but as soon as some stranger appears on their territory, they will certainly drive him away, at such moments these cute and kind animals are prone to sudden outbursts of strong aggression. If a whole group of strangers has come to their property, then they rarely show hospitality, usually such visits end in fights and bloodshed, if only the number of this group is smaller, if there are a lot of guests, then the owners of their territory usually resort to the most reliable method. self-defense, namely, to escape.
In nature, they feed mainly on arthropods, most often various bugs and centipedes end up on their dining table. Mungo will not refuse snails, bird eggs and even a variety of fruits. For the sake of a delicious dinner, these interesting mongooses are ready to make many sacrifices, even to rummage in the manure of some large animals. Maybe someone will find this disgusting and disgusting, but for a zebra animal, manure is a storehouse of tasty insects.
Southern dwarf mongoose. These are the smallest representatives of their genus, their body grows no more than 25 cm in length, the length of the tail varies from 10 to 18 cm. The average body weight is approximately 230-300 grams. The fur of these mini-mongoose is colored mainly in grayish or brown colors. But in nature there are individuals that mother nature has painted in a coal-black color, while the neck and chest area shimmers with a beautiful slightly reddish tint, but the tail process and limbs are usually much darker than the entire body.
These adorable creatures are distributed from Ethiopia to Angola, and there are numerous populations of dwarf animals in eastern Africa. These miniature mammals live in savannas, slightly dense forests and semi-desert regions.
These cute mongooses are active mainly in the daytime. By their nature, they are very social animals, they live in groups of medium size, the leader of such a social colony is most often the dominant female, if it happens that the leader of the group dies, then usually such a family breaks up.
Dwarf mongooses mainly feed on insects, sometimes they can devour a snail. In order to break the snail's shell, this quick-witted animal throws it with its hind legs against the stone.
Keeping a mongoose at home
To date, such animals are already being bred as pets, and although not yet in large quantities, but rather not unsuccessfully. The thing is that it is truly a pleasure to keep such an exotic pupil in your home; you rarely have any troubles with him.
Before bringing this amazing animal into your house, make sure that it has its own roof over its head. A large, spacious cage is well suited as the latter. In it, you should equip an entertainment area and a place for recreation. Something, but the fluffy mongoose really loves to have fun, so it is good to install some kind of climbing equipment in his house, it can be shelves nailed at different levels, as well as ordinary thick tree branches, you can build something like a swing for him … Also, do not forget that a pet is also a family member and sometimes needs to be given gifts, the mongoose will be very happy with a pair of three toys, for example, balls, rattles or other small things. When you are not in the house, he will find a use for them.
This comrade from Africa feels great in the house, in addition, by his nature he is very well-mannered and restrained, so the door to his cage should be closed only when you leave home for a long time. Of course, you can not do this at all, but then there is a risk that the mongoose will lose interest in its toys and will start looking for an adventure in your house, and he will find something to play there. It can be books, and dishes, and clothes, and other valuable things, in addition, he can easily open the window and, inadvertently, fall out. From time to time, you may have the thought that there are two different mongoose in the cage and in the apartment. Indeed, in the cage he does not have much to do, there he just eats and sleeps sweetly, another thing is free space, going out into the wild, this very minute he transforms from a lazy animal, into a very funny pet.
In the event that a mongoose has a free exit from his home, be prepared for the fact that he will go there extremely rarely, because playing and running around the apartment is much more interesting, and sleeping on the couch or next to you in the bedroom is generally sacred. …
By their nature, these animals are very clean, and also very smart, so problems with the toilet should not arise, it will not be difficult to teach the mongoose to relieve itself in the tray, only the container needs to be chosen a little larger than the tray for the cat.
Someone may have a question: "What to do with this domestic predator in your house?" The answer to him is very simple, just give him the proper amount of your time and attention and this will be more than enough for him, well, of course, do not forget to feed him. Pets such as mongooses very quickly get used to new living conditions and also quickly become attached to their owners. Soon after moving to your house, these animals become tame, and besides, it is very interesting to communicate with them. You may not understand much, but this talker always tells something and this is by no means an exaggeration. This "conversation" is more like a quiet, pleasant-sounding chirping, thus, maybe he notifies you how his day went, complains if he hit somewhere or did not like something or tries to share some little joy. They often invite you to play with their sounds.
Domestic mongooses are quite capable of responding to their nickname. If there is another animal in your house, then you should not worry about this, your mongoose will only be glad that he has a friend. Feeding this exotic comrade at home is not a problem, he is not at all picky about food, what you give, he will gobble up, just do not get carried away, you should not treat him to sausage or pickles, he may not give up such delicacies, but for his body is very harmful. The basis of his diet can be various insects, frogs, chicken meat, eggs, fruits, vegetables and nuts. It's good to give this friend the opportunity to feel like that hunter, run a frog or some kind of bug into his cage, he will definitely like it. The main thing is that his daily menu is varied and balanced.
Buying and price of a mongoose
There may not be a lot of breeders of these friendly animals on the territory of Russia, since domestic mongooses are an infrequent phenomenon, but it is still possible to find them, just carefully check all the documents you are interested in for the animal. The average cost of such a nice friend ranges from 20,000 to 70,000 rubles.
Fight of mongoose and king cobra in the following video:
