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Galerella sanguinea
Afrikaans: rooimuishond or swartkwasmuishone
German: Rote Manguste
French: mangouste svelte
The slender mongoose is one of the smallest mongooses. It has a long, thin body set on short legs. They have a wide range in colouration, from reddish to greyish to yellowish, and in rare cases dark brown, with lighter to white coloring on the undersides. Their fur is often speckled. The tip of the tail is black or red. The extreme variation in fur colour corresponds to the wide range in which the species lives, with the darker colours being found closer to forest habitats. Their fur tends to be finer and softer than other African mongoose species. They have 38 teeth, and females have 4 mammae. It has five toes on both fore and hind feet. Their eyes are yellow.
The slender mongoose is a solitary, diurnal with squirrel-like mannerisms.. They can climb trees like a squirrel, and are adept at catching birds in this manner. It climbs down trees headfirst, unlike most mongooses. They hunt mainly during the day but will hunt at night if there is sufficient moonlight. They escape the heat of midday in their dens, which consist of a hollow tree or log, holes made by tree roots, rock crevices, or abandoned burrows.
The primary social group is that of mother and offspring. They are not strongly territorial but maintain permanent home ranges, of which the boundaries are marked with anal glands. The ranges of males overlap with those of females, which are smaller. Ranges are smaller in areas where food is abundant, and largest in arid regions.
When alarmed, it will sit up on its hind legs to look around with its head held high. Although it can climb trees when being chased or searching for food, it is normally earthbound. When this animal runs for cover, it holds its body flat and its tail horizontal, but just as it reaches cover, the black tipped tail flicks up vertically. It tends to use well-worn tracks, which make it vulnerable to birds of prey. They are generally silent, but young animals will make soft, repetitive vocalizations.
Gender differences:
Males (length, including the tail 60 cm: mass 640 g) are larger than females (length, including the tail 55 cm: mass 460 g).
Habitat:
They are found almost everywhere in Southern Africa wherever they can find suitable cover and food and have a very wide tolerance for habitat. They tend to avoid densely forested and desert regions of central Africa. There are as many as 40 subspecies of this mongoose.
Diet:
Insects make up the largest portion of the diet, supplemented by lizards, rodents, snakes, birds, amphibians, and fruit. They will eat carrion and eggs, which they crack open by propelling with the forefeet backward between the hind feet against a hard object. Like other mongooses, they are capable of killing large, venomous snakes, which they then eat, but these are not a significant portion of their diet. They rarely eat fruit.
Reproduction:
A dominant male's range generally includes the range of several females. Scent cues inform him when a female is in oestrus, and a brief courtship occurs. The male takes no part in the raising of the young. Timing of pregnancy varies depending on the location and the subspecies, but reproductive activity seems to be concentrated in the period from October to April. Gestation period is believed to be 60-70 days. Two to three young are usually born per pregnancy. They open their eyes at 3 weeks and leave the nest a week later. At this time they begin to eat solid food. The young develop fast, reaching 2/3 of their adult weight when they are 50 days old. They are fully weaned between 7-9 weeks, and usually leave at around 10 weeks. They obtain their adult teeth at 24 weeks Slender mongooses are believed to reach sexual maturity between 1 and 2 years of age, and may live to be 10 years old.
Other:
Their most important natural enemies are birds of prey, and they are very alert to large birds flying overhead. They will commonly stand on their hind legs, using their tails for balance, to get a better view of their surroundings. At the first sign of danger they will usually freeze, and then dive for cover if threatened. When excited, their hair will stand erect, making them appear much larger.
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