feeding habits
Indian Mongooses mainly eat insects but are oportunistic feeders. The main animals that they eat are birds, bird eggs, crabs, frogs, spiders, scorpions, snakes. They were supposed to eat rats but they do not do that because they sleep at the opposite time of day than the rats. Instead they eat local island species and many of the areas exotic species which has made 12 species go extinct and many more become endangered.
life cycle
It all starts in a troop of Mongoose that most of the females stay with their whole lives. Only a few females are selected to mate they are able to mate 301 days after they are born and mate with males that are 122 days or older. They have a gestation period of 4 months. All of the females in the troop that are pregnant have their litter on the same day. If there is a Mongoose that is born before all the others the have a danger of being killed by the other expectant mothers because they do not have any children yet. they are born between February and early September weighing about 25.92 grams when they are born. They stay in burrows until they are 6 weeks old and then are taught to forage for food. Males are also taught to hunt and to fend. After 6 months the males leave but all the females stay unless the troop is to big then the older females chase the younger ones away.
Natural Predators
The Indian Mongoose does not have many natural predators and is sacred in the places that it nativly lives so they do everything they can to keep them alive so their are many and their is no chance of them dieing out even if they get erradicated in the 15 introduced states. They are mostly killed by humans in their non-native habitats for the know reasons of destruction and elimination of agriculture and many native animals.
Survival Adaptations
the Indian Mongoose has many survival adaptations which make it able to live in the 15 introduced areas and 14 native areas. It has a very broad diet which makes it able to live in man places with different types of prey than its normal food of insects. It can survive in deserts, forests, agricultural areas, and urban areas. It also has retractable claws which can help catch prey and survive in climates. Also it carries parasites and its fur coat can stand on end to make it appear twice as big which can help get rid of predators.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Asian_mongoose