This Ruddy Mongoose was seen one morning during breakfast, looking for it’s own meal in a field near the hotel I was staying at. The farmed area around the hotel created an ideal habitat for living and hunting for this mongoose.

Most mongoose are more common in foothills, fields and farmed lands, but this mongoose species generally prefers more forested and secluded areas. Along with the Indian Gray Mongoose and Striped-Neck Mongoose it is one of the most common species in Sri Lanka. What makes this one stand out as a different species is that the tip of it’s tail is black!

Endemic to Sri Lanka and India, the Ruddy Mongoose (full scientific name: Herpestes smithii zeylanicus), as with all other species, is carnivorous. It hunts mice, rats, snakes, scorpions, lizards, eggs and just about any other small creatures it comes across.

While not endangered, this mongoose is generally considered a pest animal in Sri Lanka, but tolerated as it helps control the population of unwanted rodents.