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mongoose
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Mongoose
Any of a group of carnivorous tropical mammals. The Indian mongoose (H. mungo) is greyish in colour and about 50 cm/1.5 ft long, with a long tail. It can be tamed and is often kept for its ability to kill snakes. Like the snakes themselves, the acetylcholine receptors connecting the mongooses' nerves and muscle cells are unaffected by the venom. (Genera Herpestes, Ichneumia, and other related genera, family Viverridae.)
Most mongooses are solitary, but the banded mongoose Mungos mungo is highly gregarious, living in groups of 15–40 individuals. They feed on small reptiles and invertebrates and spend about 60% of their day foraging.
The white-tailed mongoose (I. albicauda) of central Africa has a distinctive grey or white bushy tail.
© Research Machines plc 2008. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.
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