The animals have pointed noses, small ears, long furry tail, and short legs. The claws are nonretractile, and in most species there are five toes on each foot. The fur is gray to brown and is commonly grizzled or flecked with lighter gray. Fur markings include stripes, dark legs, and pale or ringed tails. They live about 7 to 12 years and have two to four young in each litter.
Mongooses are active, bold predators.
They live in burrows and feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles, eggs, and occasionally fruit. They are known for attacking and killing even the largest and most poisonous snakes by an agile avoidance of their strikes. They kill the snakes by darting at the head of the snake and cracking the skull with a powerful bite. Contrary to popular belief, they are not immune to the snakes' poison but do have a high threshhold to it. Litters contain two to four young.