Ronnie Hillsden; age 9. of Victoria. B C
How does a mongoose kill a snake?
When it comes to killing snakes. the mongoose is the world's champ. Let’s watch the scrappy fellow go through a bout. Our champ is the Indian mongoose. a relative of the Rikki tikki tavi in the Kipling Jungle Book story. It is early morning and time for breakfast. Mr. Mongoose. wearing a dark grey fur coat. sallies forth from his burrow. In looks you might mistake him for a kind of weasel„
He walks along gracefully. stopping to listen and stare around with bright red eyes' Ahl He sees a scorpion. Pounce. Mr. Mongoose is licking his chops! On he goes. hoping to find snakes for he is very hungry: Shi Over there is just what our champ needs to start off his day:
It is a deadly. seven‑foot cobra. And our champ is no bigger than a house cat. The snake senses trouble and gets ready to strike. But Mr Mongoose has a trick ready. He fuzzes up the hair of his coat. This makes him look twice as big as he really is. The cobra doesn’t mind where he strikes so long as his fangs sink into meat. But with the mongoose he stands a good chance of grabbing only a mouthful of fur.
What’s more. his chances of getting even that are very slim. For our mongoose is very. very agile. His reactions are faster than those of the snake. He can leap out of range quicker than the snake can plan. The snake strikes and misses. He flops full length to the ground with a mouthful of empty air. Now the mongoose moves with a flash. He springs onto the prone snake and tries to sink his sharp teeth into the back of the head. He bites and springs back. Again the snake strikes short of his mark. Again he is rewarded for his trouble with a bite in the back of the neck.
The strikes go on and the bites begin to tell. Sooner or later the mongoose inflicts a mortal wound. He then begins to eat his fallen enemy. head first. poison glands and all. All that snake meat may be too much for one sitting. The mongoose may stuff himself curl up and take a snooze.
It takes time and a lot of effort for the snake to launch himself for each strike. Meantime the little mongoose is plotting the moves and getting set to spring nimbly out of the way. The little pink mouth is always open ready to take a nip and goad the snake into one useless lunge after another. After each strike. the snakes head and neck are flat on the ground. This is when the mongoose leaps in to take a nip at the back of his enemy’s head. The duel ends when the snake is so tired he can strike no more. Then the mongoose gives a killing bite and starts his dinner. He begins with the snake's head. devouring poison glands and all. After a while he takes a nap then wakes up and goes right on with the feast.
As a mortal enemy of snakes the little mongoose is a valuable animal in his native lands. He also destroys rats. mice and other rodent pests. He can live in the wild or share life with a human family. In either case like a good farm cat much of his time is spent fighting the enemies of his human friends.