A subspecies of a crab-eating mongoose endemic to Taiwan has for the first time been observed foraging for hermit crabs and cracking them open on hard surfaces using its front paws, thanks to amateur video recorded by nature hobbyist.
Herpestes urva formosanus is a subspecies of crab-eating mongoose and a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act (野生動物保育法). It can usually be found near streams, rivers and agricultural land, Taiwan Association for Marine Environmental Education researcher Hsu Chia-hsuan (許嘉軒) said on Monday.
The animal primarily feeds on crabs, earthworms, insects, snakes and other mollusks, but previously has not been observed eating hermit crabs, Hsu said.
The mongoose’s unusual eating habits were recorded by Huang Shu-huang (黃淑凰), an employee at the Kenting Youth Activity Center on Taiwan’s southern coast.
Huang said that there is a location at the center where she places empty seashells for hermit crabs to use, but she occasionally noticed that some of the shells were destroyed, with remnants of the crabs suggesting they had been eaten.
Huang had noticed cat-like animals near the seashell pile, so she placed a camera nearby to record activity at the location.
The actions of different mongooses were captured twice in pre-dawn hours, Huang said, adding that she did not interfere with the foraging.
The mongooses observed at the center included three adults and six young, as described in Hsu’s published article, First record of crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva formosanus) in coastal forest and use of anvils during predation on land hermit crabs in Taiwan.
The article says that wild mongooses were observed eating only the abdomens of large hermit crabs, and demonstrated knowing how to crack open their shells using hard surfaces, a behavior that had previously never been observed.
The article was published in the journal Springer Nature on April 22.
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