Read this excerpt from "rikki-tikki-tavi.""i was not a day too soon,” he said; for he could see the baby cobras curled up inside the skin, and he knew that the minute they were hatched they could each kill a man or a mongoose. he bit off the tops of the eggs as fast as he could, taking care to crush the young cobras, and turned over the litter from time to time to see whether he had missed any. at last there were only three eggs left, and rikki-tikki began to chuckle to himself, when he heard darzee's wife screaming. how does the author use personification in this excerpt? he explains that rikki-tikki is just in time. he writes that rikki-tikki begins to laugh to himself. he writes that rikki-tikki takes extra care not to miss any eggs. he says that rikki-tikki hears darzee’s wife. 

He writes that Rikki-tikki begins to laugh to himself.

Explanation:

Personification is a literary device used when we give a thing, idea, animal, nature, emotions or event (or any other non-human being) human characteristics.

In the excerpt, this literary device is used when Rikki-tikki, the Indian mongoose protagonist of the story, begins to laugh or to chuckle to himself, which it's a characteristic attributed to human beings only: Animals don't tend to laugh to themselves.

The other options are incorrect because if animals follow their protective instinct, they can hurry up to arrive at a place in order to save something or someone, they can hear humans voices (They have hearing sense), and they also have the instinct or impulse for protection so, in real life, an Indian mongoose would be able to take care not to miss any eggs.

sis. it's been a while since a read that and had that class so i can't answer for u

c hydrophobia is the answer