In South Africa, a tourist named Pierre Nel was fortunate enough to witness a rare event that left him in awe. He saw a pack of mongooses attack a python in Marloth Park. More than 20 mongooses surrounded the python, growling and attacking it from all angles.
Mongooses are social animals that live in herds with a dominant male. They have been known for their cooperative behavior when faced with a threat, working together to protect vulnerable members of their group. One of their self-defense tactics is “mobbing”, where they stand in a closed circle and attack the predator as a group.
The mongoose’s protective instincts were on full display during this incident as they did not show any fear in attacking the python. The mongooses continued to bite and scratch the python until it realized it had to escape to survive. It crawled to a small branch on the forest floor and snuggled against it to protect its head from the mongoose’s bites.
When it found a moment of respite, the python fled into the dense bushes, leaving behind more than 20 angry mongooses who watched until it completely disappeared before retreating themselves. Despite their small size, these social creatures are incredibly strong and rely on their numbers and cooperative behavior to defend themselves against predators like pythons.