[I feel like, after he meets the mongooses in the first cycle, Taako kinda actually gets a little interest in studying those little critters. He reads whatever books he finds on them. He knows all of the different kinds of mongooses, including the ones that only exist in certain cycles. It's one of his few fascinations other than cooking and himself. Maybe even after The Day of Story and Song, he considers maybe getting one as a pet.]
I mean, he must?? There’s that scene in Petals to the Metal where he rattles off mongoose facts, so he knows a good deal about them - and at the time, I assumed he had an interest because of their connection to poison/venom and Taako’s own history with poisoning.
But it couldn’t have been that originally - that didn’t happen until years later. I think a combination of things piqued Taako’s interest. For one thing, there’s the fact that he could actually talk to them; a lot of his information about them comes straight from the source. There was no reason yet for Taako to distance himself from that family because the routine of the Hunger following them hadn’t been established yet. And I think something about a mongoose, that looks cute but can be vicious and dangerous if provoked, would be appealing to someone with a past like Taako’s - when Taako was young he was probably underestimated often, and just as dangerous when he needed to be.
So yeah, I could see this! It’s an unusual interest, but it’s also kind of nice when they end up on a world where the mongoose exists. It’s a sort of consistency that they don’t always get with the kind of life they live. It’s something that sticks around when Taako loses his memories - there’s no risk in having a favorite animal - and he can’t really explain it, but eventually he has a new reason for the interest. And when the mongoose is still his favorite animal after everything, Ren gets into the habit of gifting him with little mongoose figurines (hard to find but worthwhile because Taako is always secretly delighted).
