February is now Mongoose Month

This is an announcement. February is now Mongoose Month. Every day, a new species of mongoose will be showcased.

Today’s mongoose is the marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus). This mongoose lives throughout sub-Saharan Africa, especially(as one might expect) in marshy areas. It is mainly active during twilight, eating animals and occasionally fruit.

Unlike some mongooses, the marsh mongoose is solitary, living in tightly-enforced territories.

As the pictures hopefully indicate, the marsh mongoose has dark brown fur without any patterning. What the pictures do not indicate is that when threatened, marsh mongooses shoot streams of foul-smelling, brown fluid from their anal sacs. Which is a pity, because you might want to know that in advance of meeting one. However, this misses the point: the foul-smelling liquid is an opportunity for you to learn to be less threatening.