Vicious Mongoose Bites and Tears at an Unbothered Iguana’s Head

Iguanas are pretty stoic reptiles but even we’re surprised to see how nonchalant this one is when a mongoose starts to bite at his face.

The video clip shows a mongoose and an iguana going head-to-head in a fight. But we’re not sure the reptile even realizes he’s in a fight based on his attitude. The mongoose starts to bite at the top of his head, even holding on with his teeth as the iguana begins to move away. The mongoose pulls him by the head a few inches as he tries to pick a fight. But the iguana seems annoyed more than anything else.

He doesn’t fight back at all. Instead, the iguana patiently waits for the mongoose to either get tired or bored. This happens in less than a minute and the mongoose lets go. The reptile seems to shake off the unwelcome attention and moves away a bit from the mongoose. Talk about turning the other cheek! We’re impressed with his ability to not engage with the mongoose bully. Either that or he realizes that the mongoose can’t do much damage and it’s not worth the effort to fight back.

Mongooses eat both animals and plants, as well as insects and eggs. But they’re not likely to go after an adult iguana because they expect to make it their lunch. Perhaps this mongoose was just trying to be a pest or maybe it wanted to see if it could actually take on the larger reptile. Either way, the mongoose was left looking a bit foolish as the other animal mostly ignored his attempts at a fight.

Is This Normal Iguana Behavior?

Iguanas can thrash their long tails around to ward off potential predators. They also have sharp claws that they can use to swipe at other animals and even humans when they feel threatened. When they need to, these reptiles detach their tails, which later grow back, to escape from predators.

This particular iguana may not feel that such drastic action is necessary, however. Mongoose do eat reptiles like this one but mostly when they are eggs or very young. One notable relationship between the two species occurred in Jamaica. Over the course of many years, Jamaican iguanas almost went extinct. One of the biggest factors in their population decline was predation by mongoose, which were introduced to the island in the 19th century. They preyed on baby iguanas and eggs. Today, the Jamaican iguana is considered Critically Endangered.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Bohgan Zeleniuk/Shutterstock.com