Small Indian Mongoose by Pratim Das

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Beautiful picture Pratim

Thanks karyl Quigley...

SMALL INDIAN MONGOOSE......WATERCOLOUR....The small Asian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) is a species of mongoose found in the wild in South and Southeast Asia. It has also been introduced to various parts of the world. The western subspecies group is sometimes treated as a separate species, the Indian mongoose or small Indian mongoose (Herpestes palustris). This species of mongoose is sympatric with Herpestes edwardsii in much of its native range and can be readily distinguished from the latter species by its much smaller size. The body is slender and the head is elongated with a pointed snout. The lengths of the head and body is 509-671mm. The ears are short. They have five toed feet with long claws. The sexes differ in size with males having a wider head and bigger size. They use about 12 different vocalizations. This species occurs naturally throughout most of southern mainland Asia, from Iraq to China, as well as on the island of Java, at altitudes up to 2200 m. It has also been introduced to dozens of islands in the Pacific and Caribbean (including Saint Lucia and Jamaica), as well as a few in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, as well as to mainland Venezuela. It is capable of living among fairly dense human populations. Mongooses live in scrublands and dry forest. On Pacific Islands they live in rainforests as well. These mongooses mostly eat insects but are opportunistic feeders and will eat crabs, frogs, spiders, scorpions, snakes, and birds and bird eggs. [INFORMATION : WIKIPEDIA]