Word: griseus
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Dates: during 1920-1929
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Known to the western world chiefly through Rudyard Kipling's story "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," Herpestes griseus (or mungo) is a dingy grey-brown rodent about 30 inches long including a pointed tail. When excited, its long stiff hairs stand erect. This bristling hair, together with thick skin, is one of the mongoose's protections against the fangs of serpents. Contrary to hearsay, the mongoose is not immune to snakebite except by dint of its intuitive agility. With uncanny timing it dodges thrust after thrust of the serpent, gradually exhausts its enemy, then darts in, bites the nape...