THE FOSSA, CIVETS, AND ICHNEUMONS 75 



THE CIVETS AND GENETS 



THE CIVETS are the first marked deviation from the Cat Family. Their bodies are elongated, 

 their legs short, their claws only partially retractile. Some of them have glands holding a strong 

 scent, much esteemed in old days in Europe, when " The Civet Cat " was a common inn-sign 

 even in England. The civets are generally beautifully marked with black stripes and bands on 

 gray. But none of them grow to any large size, and the family has never had the importance 

 of those which contain the large carnivora, like the true cats or bears. Many of the tribe and its 

 connections are domesticated. Some scholars have maintained that the cat of the ancient Greeks 

 was one of then the common genet. The fact is that both this and the domestic cat were kept 

 by the ancients ; and the genet is still used as a cat by the peasants of Greece and Southern Italy. 



The AFRICAN CIVET and INDIAN CIVET are large species. The former is common almost 

 throughout Africa. Neither of them seems to climb trees, but they find abundance of food by 

 catching small ground-dwelling animals and birds. They are good swimmers. The Indian civet 

 has a handsome skin, of a beautiful gray ground-colour, with black collar and markings. It is 

 from these civets that the civet-scent is obtained. They are kept in cages for this purpose, and 

 the secretion is scooped from the glands with a wooden spoon. They produce three or four kit- 

 tens in May or June. Several other species very little differing from these are known as the 

 MALABAR, JAVAN, and BURMESE CIVETS. 



The RASSE is smaller, has no erectile crest, and its geographical distribution extends from 

 Africa to the Far East. It is commonly kept as a domestic pet. Like all the civets, it will eat 

 fruit and vegetables. 



The GENETS, though resembling the civets, have no scent-pouch. They are African creatures, 

 but are found in Italy, Spain, and Greece, and in Palestine, and even in the south of France. 

 Beautifully spotted or striped, they are even longer and lower than the civet-cats, and steal 

 through the grass like weasels. 



The COMMON GENET is black and gray, the latter being the ground-colour. The tail is very- 

 long, the length being about 15 inches, while that of the body and head is only 19 inches. 

 Small rodents, snakes, eggs and birds are its principal food. It is kept in Southern Europe for 



Photo b) A. S. Rudland & Sons 



AFRICAN CIVET 

 This is one of the largest of the Civet Tribe. The perfume known as " civet " Is obtained from it 



