David vs. Goliath: Watch This Underdog Mongoose Beat a Cobra in an Epic Battle

Enter your email in the box below to get the most mind-blowing animal stories and videos delivered directly to your inbox every day.

Is there no end to this mongoose's bravery? The ferocious little animal is quite happy to take on a large venomous snake and appears to be winning the battle. With the help of some deft combat moves including what looks like a crocodile roll, the mongoose wins the day. Scroll down to watch the full video of this extraordinary encounter.

A mongoose is not a single species. There are nearly three dozen species of animals that are commonly described as mongooses. They are all in the Herpestidae family and within this there are two subfamilies. The Herpestinae subfamily includes the Indian grey mongoose (U. edwardsii).

To make things even more complicated, the most well-known mongoose species is S. suricatta which we all call a meerkat!

Each individual species can have quite a limited distribution but as a whole, mongooses have quite a broad range. They are mainly found in Africa but are also found in southern parts of Asia and southern parts of Europe.

Unfortunately, they are an invasive species in other parts of the world. For example, they were introduced into Hawaii in 1883 to control the rat population around sugarcane fields. This move was misguided and has damaged local ecosystems. Whilst the mongooses have killed some rodents, they also ate birds, insects and other small mammals.

Mongooses are opportunistic feeders. Depending on where they live, their diet can be made up of small mammals, birds, reptiles, plants or fruit. Indian mongooses that were introduced to Jamaica have been blamed for the extinction of some ground-nesting bird species. Others introduced into Hawaii are endangering the Hawaiian crow and several other bird species.

Because they can! Mongooses are extremely quick and agile as you can see in this clip. They just don't stay still long enough for a snake to aim their strike. Also, these mammals have thick fur which offers some protection from a snake bite. However, we now know that some mongoose species have a particular type of biochemical make up that renders them almost immune to snake venom. The snake α-neurotoxin is not able to bind to the usual receptors in their body and therefore cannot take effect. No wonder this guy is so brave!

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us? Contact the AZ Animals editorial team.