THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
mal is fond of making its residence in thatched roofs, and 
becomes an interesting house mate. 
Two other Malayan palm civets, called ‘‘small-toothed” ; 
the two hemigales of Borneo, remarkable for the broad, dark 
bands lying across the back; the web-footed, fish-catching, 
and otterlike cynogale; and the black binturong, or ‘‘bear 
cat,” the only animal of the Old World not a marsupial which 
has a prehensile tail, complete the catalogue of the viverrines. 
Turning now to the second division, the Herpestines, it must 
be noted first that they differ from the viverrines by anatomical 
features; by the fact that their claws are not retractile; by the 
absence of scent pouches; and by being unspotted. Sixteen 
of the most typical species form the genus Herpestes, leaving 
a few more for other genera. The smallest are no larger than 
a weasel, while the largest rival a house cat. They are active, 
bold, and predaceous, and live on small mammals, birds and 
Tahiaee: reptiles, insects and eggs, and occasionally eat 
mons: fruit. They live in holes in the ground and similar 
places. When angry or excited they erect their long hairs, 
especially those of the tail; and are deadly cnemies to snakes. 
Popular interest in these animals centers upon the ability to 
kill dangerous reptiles shown conspicuously by two species, — 
one common all along the south shore of the Mediterranean, 
in Egypt, Asia Minor, and Spain, and the other in India. The 
former is a sleek, mink-shaped but more robust creature, of 
rather large size, the head and body measuring about twenty 
inches, and the tail, which is thick and tapering, about fifteen 
inches more; the color is a uniform brownish grizzle with a 
stripe on the nape and the top of the tail black. 
This animal has always been numerous in the Nile Valley, where the 
Egyptians call it Pharaoh’s rat, and the Greek colonists, long before 
the Christian era began, named it ichnenmon, that is, “tracker,” because 
it was believed to smell out the trails of the crocodiles to and from their 
nests, and then to dig up and eat their eggs. At any rate, it will eat these 
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