It is hard to guess what a Ruddy mongoose weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Ruddy mongoose (Herpestes smithii) on average weights 1.7 kg (3.75 lbs).
The Ruddy mongoose is from the family Herpestidae (genus: Herpestes). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 40.7 cm (1′ 5″). Usually, Ruddy mongooses have 2 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The ruddy mongoose (Herpestes smithii) is a mongoose species native to hill forests in India and Sri Lanka. This mongoose, along with the striped-neck and Indian grey mongeese, are the only mongoose species endemic to India and Sri Lanka. The ruddy mongoose is very closely related to Indian grey mongoose, but distinguished by its slightly larger size and black-tipped tail extending for 2 to 3 inches at the distal end. There are two subspecies of this mongoose, H. smithii smithii in India, and H. smithii zeylanicus (Thomas, 1852) in Sri Lanka.
Animals of the same family as a Ruddy mongoose
We found other animals of the Herpestidae family:
- Meerkat with a weight of 730 grams
- Egyptian mongoose bringing 3 kilos (6.61 lbs) to the scale
- Pousargues’s mongoose with a weight of 362 grams
- Ring-tailed vontsira with a weight of 815 grams
- Brown-tailed mongoose with a weight of 711 grams
- Gambian mongoose bringing 1.64 kilos (3.62 lbs) to the scale
- Javan mongoose with a weight of 758 grams
- Meller’s mongoose bringing 2.24 kilos (4.94 lbs) to the scale
- Bengal mongoose with a weight of 741 grams
- Indian grey mongoose bringing 1.3 kilos (2.87 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Ruddy mongoose
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Herpestes smithii:
- Reclusive ringtail possum with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- Haussa genet with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- Grandidier’s mongoose with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- Common kusimanse with a weight of 1.39 kilos (3.06 lbs)
- Southern viscacha with a weight of 1.54 kilos (3.4 lbs)
- Java mouse-deer with a weight of 1.88 kilos (4.14 lbs)
- Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine with a weight of 1.75 kilos (3.86 lbs)
- Riverine rabbit with a weight of 1.75 kilos (3.86 lbs)
- Long-footed potoroo with a weight of 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs)
- Tolai hare with a weight of 1.59 kilos (3.51 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Ruddy mongoose
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Ruddy mongoose:
- African savanna hare with a size of 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Monk saki with a size of 41.1 cm (1′ 5″)
- Woolly flying squirrel with a size of 45.9 cm (1′ 7″)
- Grandidier’s mongoose with a size of 35.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Aye-aye with a size of 40 cm (1′ 4″)
- Eastern cottontail with a size of 37.2 cm (1′ 3″)
- Greater bilby with a size of 37.5 cm (1′ 3″)
- Telefomin cuscus with a size of 39.9 cm (1′ 4″)
- Central African oyan with a size of 37.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Large-spotted civet with a size of 42.4 cm (1′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Ruddy mongoose
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (2) as a Ruddy mongoose: