A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes / including mammals, birds and fishes

by Phebe Westcott Humphreys

THE MANGOUSTS.

MANGOUSTS.

These are small animals found in the warmest parts of Africa and Asia. They have a low body, but are very rapid in their movements, and their legs are so short, they have the appearance of crawling rapidly along the ground instead of running. Their tail is long and thick at the root, and their skin is silky and marked with colored rings.

The Mangousts make their home in marshy places where there are plenty of Reptiles. They prefer these to any other food, although they attack small animals and Birds. They also search for the eggs of Reptiles, and such Birds as build on the ground. They sometimes manage to get into poultry yards, when, like the Ferrets and Weasels, they kill all that can be found, only eating their brains and drinking their blood.