Mongooses | Herpestidae

Mangoesten | Mangostas

Slender, low-slung carnivores with a pointed muzzle, small round ears set low on the head and closable, and a well-furred tail thick at the base and tapering to a point. The coat looks grizzled because every guard hair is banded light and dark. The five toes carry long blunt claws that cannot be drawn in and that serve chiefly for digging. The pupil is horizontal — a sign that these are animals of the day, unusual among small carnivores. At the anus lies a roomy gland pouch with which boulders and tree trunks are marked. They are strikingly quick in reaction and deal as a matter of habit with dangerous food: snakes, scorpions, and eggs hurled backwards between the hind legs against a stone. The two species of this area live singly or in a loose family party.