A species of ichneumon (Herpestes griseus), native of India. Applied also to other allied species, as the African banded mongoose (Crossarchus fasciatus).

See Wormburner. A shot so low it would take the head off a snake.

Weasel-like (short legs, long bodied) carnivores of Africa and Asia. The best known mongoose is the snake-killer, Rikki Tikki Tavi, in Kipling's stories. They have been introduced to many islands, often in the vain attempt to control rat populations in sugar-cane fields. Where introduced, instead of rats, they have killed many of the native animal species.

agile grizzled Old World viverrine; preys on snakes and rodents

A mongoose is a member of the family of small cat-like carnivores. Mongooses are widely distributed in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and southern Europe. There are more than thirty species, ranging between one and four feet in length.