THE GENET 



to its fullest stretch, and the long tail held straight 

 out along the ground behind. Creeping silently 

 along in this attitude, with abdomen almost touching 

 the ground, it has at first sight the appearance of a 

 snake. 



The food of the genet consists of any creature 

 which it may be able to overpower, such for instance 

 as hares, dassies, rats, mice, birds, their nestlings 

 and eggs, as well as sundry lizards, snakes, eggs, and 

 insects. In captivity they thrive best on a meat 

 diet. In the vicinity of the stock farmer these 

 genets are apt to become a pest, owing to their 

 fondness for poultry. The head and body of the 

 genet being so slender, it is able to squeeze through 

 comparatively small holes. Where the head can 

 go, the body can follow. 



During my sojourn on a Dutch friend's farm we 

 were, one morning, startled during breakfast by the 

 excited ejaculations of a coloured servant woman. 

 In a most excited way she related that when she 

 was feeding the fowls she saw the remains of half 

 a dozen hens on the floor, and on going into the 

 fowl-house to investigate more closely, something 

 hissed loudly and fiercely. She declared it was a 

 huge snake. Arming ourselves with sticks, we pro- 

 ceeded to the fowl-house, and a glance showed us 

 that some creature other than a snake had been 

 there during the night, for the partially-devoured 

 bodies of six fowls were ample evidence of the fact. 



We stepped inside, carefully closing the door 

 5 



