Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Grey Mongoose

Herpestes edwardsii

Description:

The Indian grey mongoose, or common grey mongoose, is a medium sized tawny or yellowish grey with a lighter underside, darker feet (this separates it from the syntopic Small Asian Mongoose), and dark red tail tip. They have a reddish tint to their heads. Their tail length equals their body length. Body length: 36-45cm (14-17 inches) Tail length: 45 cm (17 inches), weight: 0.9-1.7kg (2-4 lb). Males are significantly larger than the females. Mongooses can see colours, unlike most mammals, which have only partial colour vision. A mongoose cracks eggs open by standing with its back to a wall and throwing the eggs under its body and between its back legs so that the eggs break against the wall. Indian grey mongooses are often kept as pets to keep houses free from rats and other pests. The mongoose closes its outer ear when hunting in soil to keep out dirt and water

Notes:

Spotted in neighbor's garden while they are eating grated coconut.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

4 Comments

NuwanChathuranga
NuwanChathuranga 11 years ago

yes they can, i have seen them fighting with cobras..

The MnMs
The MnMs 11 years ago

Nice! they can eat snakes, right?

NuwanChathuranga
NuwanChathuranga 11 years ago

thanks namitha !!

namitha
namitha 11 years ago

Really cool spotting Nuwan.

NuwanChathuranga
Spotted by
NuwanChathuranga

Alawwa, Sri Lanka

Spotted on Nov 25, 2012
Submitted on Nov 25, 2012

Spotted for Mission

Related Spottings

Indian Gray Mongoose Indian gray mongoose Mongoose Grey Mongoose

Nearby Spottings

Psyche Yellow Waxtail Spider Sugarcane Looper
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team