A foraging group of Banded mongooses swarms a termite mound, digging, scratching, munching. These critters, about the size of a cat, live on a diet of insects, but are opportunistic diners who will take snails, mice, rats, frogs, birds, fruit, and occasionally, venomous snakes.
Termite mounds are a buffet.
This group of about 20 mongooses came up behind us as we were looking for other game. They quickly picked over this mound, then disappeared back into the grass.
The Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a successful hunter in the Serengeti. There are 22 other species of mongooses worldwide.
As a child, I thought Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was the coolest hero ever. He was a little Grey mongoose with a bottle-brush tail who lived in a place far away. How can you not hold your breath when you read these words?
"At the hole where he went in
Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye saith:
'Nag, come up and dance with death!'"
Backside Stripes
A pack of banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) crossed the track in front of our vehicle. There were probably twenty or thirty of these feisty individuals scurrying from one termite mound to another. These little guys eat about anything in their path including bugs and birds and (as every Kipling reader knows) snakes!
The banded mongoose--named for the backside stripes-- is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Some believe it is mentioned in Leviticus 11:30 (Heb. koach) in a list of "unclean animals."