It wasn't a mongoose. Go to youtube, you'll see vids of Mongoose's killing rattlesnakes.
"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

waaaa waaaa waaaa a ferret died waaaa waaa waaaaa

It sure wasn't a Honey Badger. They don't care or lose to snakes.
"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

I think one of the actors in that scene erroneously referred to the mongoose as an otter.

Not a mongoose if it were, the snake would have LOST. Go check out Mongoose versus Snake vids on youtube.
"I don't want your watch, man. I want your friendship!" - Lightfoot

Well that particular scene was too rich for the BBFC too, so they cut it in accordance with the law that prohibits showing real animal cruelty. Personally I'm anti-censorship but, you know, it's a film. If you can fake killing a human, surely you can fake killing an animal. There's really no need for it.
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THIS IS THE NEEEEEWS.
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The animal rights people were well in place by the time this movie was made.

"My Grandmother is a huge fan of the movie, but she's always asked me about that scene when I visit her"
Gripping conversations you have with your grandmother!!
I'd love to be there;
You: How are you granny? Want to see some pictures of the family? Shall i tell you about my job?
GM: nah lets just jump straight to the snake scene in Any Which Way you Can

Wow. I'm not a big animal lover or anything, but killing an animal for a 30 second scene in a comedy is pretty ****ed up. My Grandmother is a huge fan of the movie, but she's always asked me about that scene when I visit her. Now I'm not sure if I should tell her this or not since she -is- the PETA type.
edit The Wikipedia article lacks a source, and there's nothing on the discussion page. I'm not saying its not true (again, I don't see how they could've faked this back then), but a source sure would be nice.

According to wikipedia it was a real fight to the death. It ruined the film for me. They put that poor ferret in that tight glass cageit can't even back away and is screaming, and the snake kills him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Any_Which_Way_You_Can

According to wikipedia the scene was real.
Mesh-Head:If I were you, I'd run!
Buddy:If you were me, you'd be good-looking.

Yes, but those groups were no where near as big then as they are today. I'm not so sure how they could have faked the fight back then, as its really convincing. After the final scruffle, the mongoose looks extremely dazed. How do you pull something like that off with a live animal back then?
Given the fate of the orangutans, its enough to make you wonder. But then, would Clint Eastwood allow an animal to be killed purely for the sake of any film, let alone a light-hearted comedy?

That scene had to have been staged otherwise all those animal rights activists, and companies, would not have let it be included in the film. The snake had to have been "defanged", but some of the scenes where they are wrestling around, are probably real.

Sure as hell hope it was faked, no movie is worth killing an animal for.

They make pretty realistic stuffed animals or prop animals. Now, if they did this in 1980 I'm not sure. I know, I remember watching the Waltons during season 4 and the cat that played Calico, clearly looked like a stuffed cat when she was dead. I had lots of different stuffed animal toys and they can look pretty real.

Actually, the animal used in the film was a ferret. While I'm sure it was 'supposed' to be a mongoose, it wasn't. The two animals have very distinct and different cranial structures. Watch the scene, and google a picture of a mongoose and you can see the difference.
Now, as to whether or not the animal was killed in the scene that's hard to say. Sure as hell looks like it was

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Did the producers really let that snake and mongoose fight each other? and more importantly, did the snake really kill the mongoose?

mongoose