The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-30
HABITS AND DISPOSITION
OF HAWAIIAN MONGOOSE

| Hawaiian Sportsmen have for a lon:
time been much concerned over thu
ravages of the mongoose, which ANNA
| is a menace to the existence of feath
cred game on several of the islands.
Two varieties of pheasant, the Mon
golian and the japanese blue pheasant
promised to become very plentiful OIL
Molokai California Valley quail throvt
well in Oahu and the beautiful noun
tain quail, here called royal quail
found congenial habitat on Molokai
Wild turkeys offered good sport t.
hunters who visit the Eva and Waia.
nae ranges. Chinese pigeons, called
/ doves, thrive on nearly all of the is
Hands All of the above varieties were
successfully introduced in these islands
but the danger of final determination
| by the mongoose is steadily growing
| The two native varieties of game
birds, the hawaiian wild goose and the
Hawaiian teal duck, number but few
hundred, in isolated sections, where
once they We're plentiful, having beer
nearly cleaned out by the mongoose.
This obnoxious little beast, luckily
has up to the present time been con-
fined to certain localities and the ut
most precaution is taken to prevent it's
presence il all of the islands of the
group.
The following description Of the ami
NAL, as it is found in its native habitat,
is by an Indian naturalist:
Probably greater interest, curiosity
and speculation centers round the mon
goose, his habits and ways, than any
other of the smaller four-footed deni-
zens of the wild jungles of the East.
Intense interest, favored by much
human sympathy for the plucky little
creature. is aroused by the deadly and
irreconcilable hatred he bears to all
and every species of the snake tribe
which, no matter where or when met
with, whether large or small, deadly
or harmless, he fearlessly attacks, ex-
hibiting at the mere sight of the rep
tile a violent and uncomfortable anger
evinced by every hair on his body
standing out rigid and stiff from the
skin, by sharp kissing whistling call
the challenge to mortal combat.
Our curiosity is keenly aroused by
the wonderful immunity enjoyed by the
mongoose from the deadly fangs, and
still more deadly poisons of the most
venomous species of snake, against
whom he wages ceaseless racial war;
CnacJ,lot ino iS rife a n the aQuSpS
of this immunity.
THE native of India relates how the
stricken mongoose after killing his enc
my, and having devoured it's brain, evil
IDENTIFY regarded in the light of a del
icacy not to be forgone under any
circumstances hurries off to the depths
of the jungles in search of some special
herb, known to the mongoose alone,
which acts as an immediate antidote
against the most deadly of poisons.
1.-The ordinary observer ascribes the
safety of the mongoose to his extra
ordinary agility and lightning-Hke
movements, but as the snake strikes
with terrible rapidity and certainty, it
is difficult to believe that the mongoose
should escape every time, and yet there
is no case on record OF a mongoose
having been bested in a single fight,
and having paid the penalty of death.
"A theory was advanced that in oc-
ulation of snake virus for many gen
erations of the mongoose family had
rendered them immune to it's deadly
effect; but this has been proved time
and again to be a fallacy, as a tame
purposely bitten by a deadly
snake has died within a short time,
exhibiting all the usual symptoms re-
sulting from snake poison. The mon
goose thus bitten has also been let
loose in d circumscribed piece of wild
jungle and has been found dead, thus
the native idea of the exist
ence of an herb antidote-though the
possibility of the herb not existing in
the circumscribed piece of jungle weak
ems the proof. The only theory put
forward that seems to hold water. is
that the stiff bristling hairs of the
angry mongoOse forms his natural pro-
lection.
The long bristly hairs that cover
the body of the mongooSe, from his
neck to the tip of his tail, as distinct
from the soft fine under fur with
which his body, head and feet are
covered vary from two to three inches
in length, and bristle up and stand out
rigid from the body the moment a
snake is sighted and remain rigid and
bristling throughout the fight, giving
him the appearance of an animated
de- frise.
The moment the sensitive palate of
the striking snake is touched by the
points of the bristles, the snakes
mouth closes instinctively and instanta-
neously with the object of drawing the |
poison fangs seated in the upper pal |
ate deeply into the object struck at |
The consequent pressure on the poison |
bag elects the poison into the bristles, |
and thus the poison never reaches the |
blood by actual penetration of the |
skin.
That the mongoose evinces no fear |
Of the snake has been proved times
without number, but on the other
hand the deadly fear in which the
snake lives of the mongoose isan equal |
Y we'll established fact Should the |
snake first sight his raca aDaro,, he |