The pint-sized predator

Although this is a cheeky misquote from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is so apt when applied to the subject of this month’s article – the Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula).

- Lorraine Doyle

What this southern African small carnivore might lack in stature, it surely makes up for in attitude!

A Dwarf mongoose weighs between 210-350g on average, with a maximum shoulder height of about 7.5cm and a total length (including their tail) of 3540cm. The Dwarf mongoose is the smallest of the family Herpestidae (derived from the Greek herpestes, a creeper – likely referring to their way of scurrying through the bush) and is highly social, living in cohesive groups of three to 30 individuals. Within each business – the collective noun for a group of mongooses – there is a rigid hierarchy in which a single breeding pair suppresses reproduction in other group members. The business collectively engages in territorial defence, sentry duties to look out for predators, babysitting, and grooming. When it comes to food, they follow a catholic diet; feeding on anything from insects to snakes, lizards, and small mammals.

Mongooses have a special tool in their arsenal for dealing with snakes; partial protection from Elapid (cobra and mamba) venom. Without getting too technical, they have a mutation in one of their nerve receptors that prevents α-neurotoxin in the venom from binding to the receptor site. This mutation does not confer immunity to the venom, but does afford a certain level of protection from its effects.