Banded Mongoose
Quick facts
*Adults reach a total length of about 65cm, of which the tail is about 25cm. Males reach a mass of about 1.7kg.
*Live in open savannas, open forests and grassland.
*Tend to be associated with large river systems in southern Africa, though they can be found away from the rivers themselves; it is thought that the vegetation structure affects this distribution.
*Common in areas were there are termite mounds present as these mounds serve as a place of housing as well as well a source of food.
*They have long claws that allow them to dig for food and housing.
*They are diurnal mainly, foraging through the day.
*Live in troops which vary in size from about 5 to 70. They call to each other with different calls as to stay in contact and each troop have a distinctive scent.
*Gestation period of approx 60 days.
*The young can be breast fed by all Lactating mothers.
*Diet consists of insects, lizards, snakes, frogs and sometimes mice, fruit, roots and bird eggs.
*Forage together but can break off into small groups. They have more security when they are together due to more eyes watching for predators.
*Are known as specialist snake killers and will even take on deadly snakes such as cobras.