Physically, a mongoose might be quite small, but they makes up for this with their tenacity. This one forced a snake into a pitched battle on the H1-3 in the Kruger National Park.
Wessel, a safari goer, caught the fight on camera three kilometers from Satara and sent it in to Latest Sightings. Snakes are known for their speed and lightning-fast strikes, but mongooses are no slouch, making this an even match
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The snake, a puff adder, is incredibly dangerous. It has strong venom, and causes a high number of human deaths across the African continent, but that means less to the mongoose than one might expect.
Deadly Rivalry
Mongooses will eat anything that’s small enough for them, which is mostly rodents, small reptiles, and various plants and seeds. This means that snakes like this one are definitely on the menu.
The puff adder might ordinarily be able to rely on its venom to fight back against potential predators, but that doesn’t work as well on a mongoose. While not completely immune to snake venom, mongooses do have a natural resistance to it.
A powerful enough dose of venom can still be fatal, but mongooses have a high tolerance, enough to turn the tables on venomous snakes.
Can’t Touch This
Sharp teeth could still seriously harm the mongoose, so it still had to be wary of the lightning-fast reflexes that the snake possessed. If it lost its focus for only a moment, the snake might have been able to sink its fangs somewhere vulnerable.
Fortunately, the mongoose has a secret weapon it could use here as well. The mongoose had lightning-fast reflexes of its own, and every time it closed in on the snake to attack, it could leap out of the way before the reptile could respond.
The snake’s main weapons were its venom and its teeth, but the mongoose also had claws on the ends of its little feet. Although it was only attacking with its mouth, the snake had to make sure to keep an eye out for sharp claws potentially coming its way.
Ineffective Defensive Tactics
Under attack from one of the few animals that aren’t bothered by its typical defensive strategies, things weren’t looking great for this puff adder. They are usually well camouflaged, but it looked like this mongoose had caught it in an open area.
The snake coiled itself together in an effort to keep its entire body safe, and it kept backing away from the mongoose, likely looking for nearby cover to retreat into.
It didn’t look like there was any cover around for it to use, though, and it was entirely at the mercy of the mongoose, which attacked it again and again, bobbing its head from side to side and striking and retreating before the snake had a chance to retaliate.
It was bad news for the snake, and potentially a hearty meal for the mongoose, but the footage ends without revealing who won the conflict.