The Indian Grey Mongoose: The Cobra’s Nemesis

Over the years, especially in the decades before the 1990s, many of us witnessed on street corners and in marketplaces (and even at irresponsibly held birthday parties) the classic encounter between mongoose and cobra (naag). These were, of course, controlled battles where the master of ceremonies (aka the snake charmer) had the lithe, writhing mongoose on a rope so that it doesn’t kill the poor, harassed cobra once and for all. The mongoose involved was usually the Indian grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii), called neola in Hindi. It is one of 5-6 species on the Indian subcontinent and one of 33 worldwide.

The familiar brownish-grey creature is somewhat ferret-like (an animal it is related to) and 30-45 cm long (half of this the tail). It has grizzled-looking fur, a bushy white or pale yellow-tipped tail, and powerful claws for digging. Its face is pointy with beady red-rimmed, slightly bulging eyes and small round ears (the outer flaps of which it can close completely). The grizzled look of its fur comes from the hair being banded dark and light. Animals found in the north are paler than those in the country’s south.

The mongoose keeps low to the ground, moving with a curious wave-like motion as it weaves through the undergrowth, occasionally sitting up or even standing to get its bearings (or sight prey) before moving on. An inhabitant of open scrubland, forest, and cultivated fields, it may share accommodation with us, putting up in roof rafters, burrows, or hollows at the base of hedgerows or trees. It is sometimes kept as a pet as it is a very efficient rodent killer, though it isn’t quite the sort of pet you would like to cosy up with, being of unpredictable disposition and a possible carrier of rabies.

The Indian grey mongoose, like other members of its clan, has a somewhat frenetic urgency about it. Its temperament is irascible. It will relentlessly track down its prey — rats and other rodents, lizards, nestlings, scorpions and snakes by sight or scent, and kill the victim with a vicious bite to the head. Its mode of attack is usually head-on, frontal and brutal. If the prey goes into the ground, it will be dug out — that’s what the long, powerful front claws are for, while the outer parts of the ears close completely to prevent flying dirt (and water) from entering.

With a hissing, hooded cobra rearing high, the mongoose dodges, darts, feints, and lunges with lightning speed. Lithe and sinuous in its movements, it keeps at its target, time and time again, for as much as an hour before the cobra tires and the mongoose has a chance to deliver the killing bite (at the back of the snake’s head). Even if the cobra gets in a strike or two, the mongoose is well-protected. First, by its spiky, stiff wire-brush-like fur that fizzes up erect and then by its loose skin and the proteins that lie beneath the skin, which disarm and nullify the lethal snake venom. A lesser but nonetheless venomous prey like scorpions is dealt with summarily. The creature is held by its rear claws and flung up repeatedly, the mongoose not even bothering to snip off its deadly stinger before it delivers its killing bite and crunches it down. Let loose in a henhouse or poultry-yard, the mongoose is a weapon of mass destruction and will slaughter far more than it can consume. According to one report I read, it will wash down its meal of fresh chicken by apparently drinking its blood. Birds’ eggs, however, will be delicately held between its front paws and bitten through from the smaller (top) end, and the contents sucked out. The mongoose is a good climber and can also swim, making it a nightmare for fish or crabs. It may also attack larger creatures like egrets and hares. Mongooses consume fruit and berries too.

Though quite common and considered in no immediate danger on the IUCN’s Red List, the life of the Indian grey mongoose has not been thoroughly researched. It is usually solitary and breeds in summer, generally raising two litters of between two and four pups after a gestation of around two months. The young become independent aged 6-9 months and, in the wild, may live for seven years. Only the mother looks after the pups — the father roams free, hooking up with every female he possibly can. And theirs is no gentle wooing and romancing. To me, witnessing the mating process, it all seemed rather rough. Part of the reason, I think, stemmed from the fact that there appeared to be two rivals contesting for the same lady. The eventual winner was so riled up that he continued behaving aggressively with the lady even when he finally got her. Mongooses communicate their availability and status by leaving a scent trail deposited by a special anal gland.

In the wild, the Indian grey mongoose need fear none except perhaps the leopard – and humans, of course. We have killed them for meat and for their hair, from which paintbrushes and shaving brushes are made. This is illegal, and apparently, in 2018, the UP Forest Department seized 155 kg of mongoose hair, which cost 3,000 mongooses their lives.

The Indian grey mongoose has been taken to exotic locales like Hawaii for rodent eradication, but their eclectic diet, which includes rare birds, mammals, reptiles and birds’ eggs, has yet again demonstrated the foolishness of introducing alien species to new places.

Perhaps the best-known mongoose in the world is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the brave hero in Kipling’s eponymous story. I have met mongooses on my walks on the Delhi Ridge several times, and they always seem in a hurry to be somewhere. After briefly checking me out, they vanish uncannily into the undergrowth. While they may not be the most charismatic of small animals around, it’s nonetheless nice to know that a group of mongooses is a mongaggle.