The Civet Family. 147 



THE CIVET FAMILY. 



The Civets occupy a position between the Pelidae 

 and the Hyaenidae. They have much more elongated 

 heads and longer muzzles than the Cat Family. They 

 have forty teeth. The tongue is bristled with sharp, 

 rough papillae. The true Civets (The Viverra) all have 

 large forms and robust bodies from two to three feet 

 long, exclusive of the fifteen inch tail, and walk on the 

 tips of their toes. Their legs are short, and each small, 

 rounded foot is furnished with five toes the claws of 

 which are partially retractile. Although their eyes re- 

 main round and full in the day they are nocturnal and 

 solitary animals, hiding in the woods, bushes or thick 

 grass during the day time, feeding on snakes, frogs, in- 

 sects, eggs, fruits and roots, and going out at night to 

 kill any small animals they may find. They take readily 

 to the water but most of the species are poor climbers. 

 The young are produced in May or June, three or four 

 at a birth. 



The fur is ash colored, irregularly barred and spotted 

 with black ; the tail is black at the end and has four or 

 five black and white rings near its base. Two black bands 

 encircle the throat and one surrounds the face; a black 

 mane runs along the whole length of the spin6. The fur 

 of most of the species, however, is of little value. 



The Civet Cats are of interest commercially because of 

 a musky substance which is obtained from a deep, two 

 sac pouch situated near the anus of the animal ; this secre- 

 tion oozes into the pouch from peculiar glands, and is ob^ 

 tained by the natives of Abyssinia and Java by scraping 

 the inside of the pouch with a spatula. A dram is often 

 secured by one scraping and the operation can be re- 

 peated at short intervals. As this civet, as the substance 

 is called, sells for ten dollars an ounce to the perfumers 

 who use it as a base for perfume extracts, it will be seen 

 that it pays to domesticate these animals even though 

 they are irritable and untrustworthy. The Civet Cats are 

 dangerous animals when aroused, and as they produce 



