“Pete,” she sighed, softening her voice, “it’s a pest. Some plantation owner brought them in a long time ago to try and kill the rats that were eating his sugar cane. Thing is, mongooses are diurnal.”
“They hunt during the day?”
“Exactly. And rats mostly come out at night. So they’re no good against rats. But the native species here, they were easy prey. So all that guy did was bring in a new pest that’s even worse than the rats.”
“He’s just a baby.” Pete gave her a pleading look.
“It’s an invasive species.”
He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. “Are anole lizards invasive?”
Zoe’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, actually. They are.”
“But you saved one,” he said triumphantly. “You saved that green lizard!”
“Okay, but I didn’t keep it as a pet. That thing is a wild animal, and not even a native one. Mongooses kill native birds and eat their eggs. They do a lot of damage.”
“So do cats! They kill birds all the time! Our neighbor’s cat in California used to eat hummingbirds! He caught them right out of the air! But it’s not his fault. It’s just his instincts.”
“Pete–”
“You wouldn’t hurt a kitten, would you?”
Zoe sighed and looked down at the pup that was curled against Pete’s chest. She was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, “You have to keep it warm if you want it to live.”
“Of course I want him to live,” he said fiercely.
“Well.” Zoe crossed her arms. “Don’t let it get cold.”
“I won’t.” Pete hurried upstairs, still cradling the mongoose pup like a baby.
When he was gone, Zoe gave Anne a long look.
“It’s illegal, you know.”
“What?”
“Keeping a mongoose as a pet. It’s against the law.”
“You can get a permit.” Noah said. “A friend of mine got one. It wasn’t easy. But it’s that or a thousand-dollar fine if they catch you.”
“That’s an expensive pet,” Anne said.
“No kidding.”
She sighed. “We’ll see if the little guy even pulls through. If he does, I’ll start looking into permits.”
“If it lives, you have to let it go eventually.” Claire sat at the kitchen table and grabbed a banana. “Like that kid with the pet racoon. It’s a wild animal.”
“Okay, but we’re not talking racoons on the mainland,” Zoe said. “It’s an invasive species.”
“Maybe we could have a vet neuter him first,” Anne suggested. “Trap and release, like feral cats.”
“Better than nothing, I guess.”
“Pete won’t want to let him go,” Claire said.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Anne told her. “A mongoose in the house was not on my to-do list for the day.”
