On several occasions during the past week we have had incredible sightings of White Tail Mongoose during our evening game drives. White tail mongooses are primarily nocturnal, resting by day in abandoned termite mounds, holes under tree roots or crevices in rocky outcrops.

They are usually solitary creatures, with the males and females only interacting to mate. During this period, the mongooses are vocal, and emit barking like sounds, that are associated with breeding behavior. If threatened, they secrete a noxious substance from its anal glands, which hopefully deters would-be aggressors.

White tail mongooses are predominantly insectivorous, with locusts, beetles, and mole crickets, making up the majority of their diet. Rats, mice, shrews, lizards, snakes, and small birds are also eaten, along with the occasional bush-fruits and berries. If found, the eggs of birds are broken open by throwing it with it’s fore legs, through it’s hind legs against, a rock (or other hard object), and the protein rich yolk, greedily lapped up.

Photographs courtesy of Lion Sands ecologist, Edwin Pierce