Wildlifeof India
Ruddy Mongoose
Civets, Mongooses & Hyena
Photo: Philipp Pavelka · CC BY 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Urva smithii
Basic stats
Diet
Birds, rat snakes, land monitors, rodents and snails
Habitat
Forests and shrubland
Range
India and Sri Lanka
Size
Head and body 40–45cm; tail about 36cm
The ruddy mongoose is a mongoose of the forests and shrublands of India and Sri Lanka. It has greyish-brown fur and a tail that ends in a darker tassel. Head and body length averages 40–45 cm and the tail about 36 cm (Wikipedia, general species account).
It takes birds, rat snakes, land monitors, rodents and snails, and hunts by day and by night (Prater 1971, as reported on Wikipedia). The cached account of the species is very short and gives nothing more specific to India, so this entry is brief.
Quick answers
- What does the Ruddy Mongoose eat?
- Birds, rat snakes, land monitors, rodents and snails
- What habitat does the Ruddy Mongoose live in?
- Forests and shrubland
- Where is the Ruddy Mongoose found?
- India and Sri Lanka
- How big is the Ruddy Mongoose?
- Head and body 40–45cm; tail about 36cm