Adaptations
Now that you know where the mongoose lives, let us talk about how it adapts to its environment. Living in the southern tip of Africa where the weather can be very cold or very hot, it has to adapt. To deal with the hot weather, the mongoose creates complex tunnels and burrows underground where it can try and stay cool. They are known to share these tunnels with meerkats or ground squirrels. Yellow mongooses have also learned to use visual and vocal calls to communicate to each other. This allows them to communicate if a predator is coming or if they are in a group hunting. They even have calls for something very urgent or not so urgent. If it becomes frightened, the yellow mongoose can growl and secrete from its anal glands. However, unlike most mongoose or meerkats, the yellow mongoose rarely finds food in groups and only sometimes in pairs.
This picture show how much longer the claws are in the front legs than the back.
The yellow mongoose moves on all four of its limbs. They have five toes or appendages on their front feet and four on their hind or back feet. Also, on their front feet there are longer claws and the underside is bare. However, on the hind legs their claws are shorter and their foot is covered with hair.
Learn how and what this little critter eats!