The Animal Which Speaks Like a Human; The Indian Brown Mongoose

Mahoora Tented Safari Camp - Horton Plains National Park

Fun facts

Mongooses are a species that is active during the day, and asleep at night. They can be seen chattering incessantly with one another throughout the day, and when this chatter is combined, they sound somewhat like human speech - by using vowels and syllable combinations to coordinate group movements, foraging information and other important messages amongst one another.

Some mongooses are legendary snake fights, with the Indian Mongoose being particularly known for its fondness of fighting the eating poisonous snakes, such as cobras. There are even some stories written on the topic, with the book “Rikki-tikki-tavi” written by Rudyard Kipling, being a popular classic that is about a young mongoose, who fights a cobra.

Lesser known facts

Mongooses are long, furry creatures with a pointed face and a bushy tail. Despite the popular belief, they are not rodents - although they may tend to even look like ones. Instead, they are members of the Herpestidae family, which also includes civets and meerkats. Some species of mongooses are extremely social and live in large groups, which are known as ‘colonies’; and these colonies can have as many as 50 members, whilst other mongooses tend to live alone.

Whereabouts

The Indian Brown Mongoose lives at an elevation range of 700-1300 meters (2300-4300 feet) above sea level in Sri Lanka, and can be found in locations like Horton Plains National Park in Sri Lanka. They can also be found in Europe, Asia and Africa. The Indian Brown Mongoose prefers rocky areas, but can also be found in forests and semi-aquatic areas (hence Horton Plains) and are easily adaptable therefore, making them less susceptible to being endangered.