THE FOSSA, CIVETS, AND ICHNEUMONS 75 
THE CIVETS AND GENETS 
THE CiEts are the first marked deviation from the Cat Family. Their bodies are elongated, 
their legs short, their claws only partially retractile. Some of them have glands holding a strong 
scent, much esteemed in old days in Europe, when “ The Civet Cat” was a common inn-sign 
even in England. The civets are generally beautifully marked with black stripes and bands on 
gray. But none of them grow to any large size, and the family has never had the importance 
of those which contain the large carnivora, like the true cats or bears. Many of the tribe and its 
connections are domesticated. Some scholars have maintained that the cat of the ancient Greeks 
was one of then—the common genet. The fact is that both this and the domestic cat were kept 
by the ancients ; and the genet is still used as a cat by the peasants of Greece and Southern Italy. 
The Arrican CiveT and Inpian Civer are large species. The former is common almost 
throughout Africa. Neither of them seems to climb trees, but they find abundance of food by 
catching small ground-dwelling animals and birds. They are good swimmers. The Indian civet 
has a handsome skin, of a beautiful gray ground-colour, with black collar and markings. It is 
from these civets that the civet-scent is obtained. They are kept in cages for this purpose, and 
the secretion is scooped from the glands with a wooden spoon. They produce three or four kit- 
tens in May or June. Several other species very little differing from these are known as the 
MALaBar, JAVAN, and BuRMESE CIVETs. 
The Rasse is smaller, has no erectile crest, and its geographical distribution extends from 
Africa to the Far East. It is commonly kept asa domestic pet. Like all the civets, it will eat 
fruit and vegetables. 
The GeEnets, though resembling the civets, have no scent-pouch. They are African creatures, 
but are found in Italy, Spain, and Greece, and in Palestine, and even in the south of France. 
Beautifully spotted or striped, they are even longer and lower than the civet-cats, and steal 
through the grass like weasels. 
The Common Genet is black and gray, the latter being the ground-colour. The tail is very 
long, the length being about 15 inches, while that of the body and head is only 19 inches. 
Small rodents, snakes, eggs and birds are its principal food. It is kept in Southern Europe for 
Photo by A, §, Rudland & Sons 
AFRICAN CIVET 
This is one of the largest of the Civet Tribe. The perfume known as  civet’? ts obtained from it 
