ICHNEUMON, Herpestes, a genus of digitigrade carnivorous quadrupeds of the family viverridce (q.v.), having a much elongated body, small head, sharp muzzle, rounded ears, and short legs. The species, which are pretty numerous, are natives of Africa and the warmer parts of Asia. One, the ANDALUSIAN ICHNEUMON (II. wid dringtonii), occurs in the s. of Spain. They feed on small quadrupeds, reptiles, eggs, and insects. Some of them, particularly the EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON (II ichneu mon) and the or (II. griseus) of India, have been greatly celebrated as destroyers of serpents and other noxious reptiles, many wonderful fables being superadded to the truth on this subject. The Egyptian ichneumon, the ichneumon of the ancients, is larger than a eat, gray, with black paws and muzzle, and a black tuft of diverging hairs at the end of the tail. It abounds in lower Egypt, but in upper Egypt it is comparatively rare. It often enters houses, and devours poultry and their eggs.
With noiseless gliding motion it advances on serpents until it can suddenly seize them behind the head, where its long sharp teeth inflict a fatal wound. It scratches up the sand for the eggs of crocodiles, which it eats with great avidity. It was a sacred animal among the ancient Egyptians; the killing of it was forbidden: and individuals, for the maintenance of which funds were set apart, were objects of worship. The ichneumon is easily domesticated, and forms a cat-like attachment to the place of its residence. It is useful in keeping houses free of rats and other vermin. It is therefore not unfrequently domesticated in Egypt, as the mangouste also is in India. This species is rather smaller, of a lighter color, and has a pointed tail.