The Elusive Mongoose

Did you know there are mongooses (mongeese?) in Hawaii? I didn't. In fact, when one ran across the road in front of our car on our first day here, I pointed at it and yelled, "Look! A squirrel-like creature!"

Our friend Eric informed us that the squirrel-like creature was a mongoose and that they were brought here to get rid of the rat problem, but since rats are nocturnal and mongooses are diurnal...Invasive Species Fail. Seriously, people, I know better than that, and everything I know about mongoose diet comes from Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.

Mongoose Diet Fact #1: They eat snakes. (Um, and there aren't any in Hawaii.)
Mongoose Diet Fact #2: They also eat bananas. (This knowledge was gleaned from my favorite line of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, "It was a temptation to eat the whole banana, but Rikki-Tikki-Tavi knew a full meal makes a slow mongoose.")

So, anyway, being the Rikki-Tikki-Tavi lover and mongoose enthusiast that I am, I just HAD to have a photo of one of these little guys. But despite the fact that we had dozens of mongoose sightings (those little guys are everywhere!), most of our photos looked like these. Can you spot the elusive mongoose in these photos?



Here are some close ups to help you out.