Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-05
MIR. IsAACsEN's MoNGoosEs.
Frightful Little Animals from India
that Voraciously Eat Rats.

81 have just received the only mon
gOOses that have ever come to America,
and | wouldn't sell them for a thousand
dollars apiece said Mr.. Isaacsen, yes
terday as he led the way to pen about
four feet square, in which two little ami
mails were moving about briskly. Mr..
1saacsen is a destroyer of vermin by pro-
fessiOn, and an enthusiast by nature.
Look at Them" he exclaimed, as he
tossed bit of meat into the pen. "They
are the inveterate enemy of the rat. They
kill foxes and beasts of all sorts, and eat
snakes. They attack all animals in the
same way. They spring upon their prey
and eat into the back of the neck, and
then up the head, and 90 on until the ami
NAL is entirely consumed. Nothing can
shake them off. They eat rats entirely
up in marvellOusly short order. Every
thing is eaten-bOnes, flesh, hair and all.
a rat will fly from mongoOse with the
widest terror, but it is useless. The
mOngoOse always catches it,"
The piece of meat that Mr.. Isaacsen had
thrown into the pen was seized by one of
the mOngOOses. The animal was a trifle
larger than a rat, and was covered with
brown hair about halt an inch long. Six
or seven stripes of white hair ran around
its body, and its face was black. Its
little eyes twinkled brightly. The tail
was short. The ferOcity of the mOngOOse
when it seized the meat was eXtraordi-
nary. 1t has four claws on each foot that
look like curved shingle nails. 1t sank its
claws into the meat, and, with a vicious
tug, rent the close fibres apart. AS it did
so it diyed in between its paws with its
sharp nose, and, with a rapid motion of
the jaws, ate hole into the meat until
half its head was embedded. Then it
abruptly withdrew its head, thrust its
claws into the hole it had made, and tore
the beef again. Again it began to eat,
and in a moment more it had torn the
chunk of beef in two pieces. The female
mongOose came forward and began to eat
one.
care you sure these are the only speci-
mems of mOngoose in America?'
''MOngoOses, my dear sir. Yes, am pos
tive. l sent for them myself to Calcutta
nearly a year ago. They arrived in the
ship Marietta a few days ago. The Cap
tain didn't feed them crumb on board.
They lived during the whole trip on the
rats they caught. The mOngOoses were
very successful when they were intro
duced into the island of Jamaica. The
island was so OVerrun with rats that
people gave up cultivating the soil. EX-
tenslve farms were neglected. Every
attempt to conquer the rats failed.
They were running the financial pros
poets of the island. The first attempt
to introduce animals destructive to
rats failed. The rattle ant killed rats, but
it also killed birds, chickens, and calves.
The aqua toads were quite as great an
evil as the rats, as they killed birds and
chickens and destroyed eggs. Ferrets
were destroyed by the native chigOes.
Fox terriers were cut by the sharp edges
of the leaves of the sugar cane. Then
mongoOses were introduced, and in a short
time the rats were eXterminated. The
mongoose breeds rapidly, and he soon
spread over the island"
"What will you do with this pair of
mOngOoses?"
81 shall breed and use them in my bust
ness. One mongOOse will eat all the rats
in the biggest house In town."