PALM-CIVETS , 37 



although, unlike other civets, it is a good climber and quite at home amongst trees, 

 it does not apparently choose the forest for a residence. Sometimes it settles close 

 to human habitations, occasionally seeking shelter in drain-pipes and out-houses. 

 When wild, the rasse, which is kept in captivity for the sake of its civet, 

 feeds on small vertebrates as well as molluscs and, to some extent, on 

 fruits and roots. It generally seeks its prey by night, although occasionally 

 by day, and always alone; it often robs fowl-houses, and is therefore cordially 

 hated by the Chinese, who are great poultry - keepers. They take their 

 revenge, however, not only by eating its flesh, but by wearing its fur, which 

 is much appreciated in China, where it is worn by people who cannot afford more 

 expensive kinds. 



Palm-civets ^ e P a l m ' c i ve t s differ from the true civets by the absence of a 



crest, the small sharp retractile claws, the vertical pupil of the eye, 

 the long tail, and especially by the feet having the soles bare. 



The Indian palm-civet (Paradoxurus niger) lives wherever there are 

 trees from the foot of the Himalaya to Ceylon, in the remotest forest as well as 

 in the neighbourhood of human habitations. It is unknown in the Punjab and 

 Sind, and is rare in the treeless districts of the north-west as well as in the Deccan, 

 but is common in upper Bengal and on the western and southern coasts. The head 

 and body measure about 22^ inches and the tail 19 h inches ; but females are some- 

 what smaller. The slender tail tapers but slightly, and is closely covered with 

 hair, while the body is clothed with a coat of coarse blackish or brownish grey 

 hair, which is long and shaggy on the back, and has little or no under-fur. 

 Although the back is not striped, in young animals there may sometimes be indistinct 

 stripes or rows of spots in this region. The feet, the greater part of the legs, and the 

 terminal half of the tail are black, although the tip of the latter is sometimes 

 white, and there may be a few spots on the body. The face is generally more 

 or less black, with a distinct white or grey spot below each eye, frequently a 

 second on each side of the nose, and often a third above the eyes. The coloration 

 varies, however, according to locality, the race inhabiting southern India and 

 Ceylon being, as a rule, blacker than those from other districts. The common 

 palm-civet is well known in most parts of India, although on account of its nocturnal 

 habits it is seldom seen in the daytime. It generally spends the day on trees, 

 coiled up either in the branches or in a hole in the trunk. It takes its name of 

 palm-civet from being so often found on cocoa-nut palms, but it also frequents 

 mango-plantations, and often takes up its abode under thatched roofs, or in sheds 

 and water-pipes. 



Its food consists partly of small mammals and reptiles, and partly of birds, 

 eggs, insects, fruit, and other vegetable substances. Occasionally these animals 

 destroy domesticated fowls, while they also rob vegetable gardens, and display a 

 predilection for palm -juice, or toddy, from which they derive their title of toddy- 

 cats. 



The palm-civet of Ceylon (P. aureus), which is restricted to the island from 

 which it takes its name, is pale rusty-red, or chestnut-brown in colour ; another 

 species (P. jerdoni) inhabits the Palnai Mountains in Madura, the Nilgiris, and 

 probably all the higher ranges of Cochin and Travancore. 



