i44 FLESH-EATERS OF THE LAND 



has been employed on many occasions to rid ships of the 

 vermin, &c. In 1871 the sugar plantations of Jamaica were 

 plagued by rats, until nine Mongooses were turned loose 

 in the island. Within a few months their numbers were 

 increased considerably, and very speedily the effect was 

 visible ; fewer rats were caught in traps, and fewer canes 

 were destroyed. From that time the island ceased to 

 trouble about the rats, but as the Mongoose had still to 

 get a living for itself and family, it behoved the planter 

 to watch his henroosts ; but it is easier to keep a Mongoose 

 out of enclosed premises than it is to keep rats out of open 

 plantations. 



Closely allied to the civet is the Genet (Genetta vulgaris), 

 Plate X. Fig. 2, with its still more weasel-like body, 

 slender and elongated, its short limbs, and sharp pointed 

 muzzle. It is a native of Africa, north of the Sahara, which 

 separates the animals of a great part of the continent in 

 the north from those of the equatorial belt, as effectively 

 as though the wilderness of sand was one of the great 

 oceans. The animal also extends into Syria and the 

 southern countries of Europe, where it is largely domesti- 

 cated for the purpose of destroying rats and mice, lizards, 

 snakes, &c., which often infest houses in warm countries. 

 Owing to the shortness of its legs, the Genet can make 

 its way into very restricted spaces in search of its prey. 

 It is a beautiful grey animal spotted with brown, with 

 a black muzzle and a ringed tail. The Genet possesses a 

 scent pouch a little more pronounced than the ichneumon's, 

 but still very inferior to that of the civet. 



The Paradoxures are called Palm Civets, Tree Cats, or 

 Toddy Cats. The generic name means ' queer- tailed/ because 

 some of the animals twist their tails screw fashion, bringing 

 the underside uppermost. The common Paradoxure (Para- 

 doxurus musanga), the Palm Civet of India and Ceylon, 

 has a body quite twenty inches in length, with a tail 

 only an inch or two less. The Binturong (Arctictis bin- 

 turong) of Burma, Assam, and the regions beyond, is 

 nocturnal and omnivorous, with a prehensile tail to help its 

 rather slow movements. The Meerkat or Suricate (Surlcata 



