The Fossa, Civets, and Ichneumons 



79 



ricolo Ijij Rohcrl D. CUrson] [riulaildjihia. 



BINTUEOXG. 



The Ijinturong is placed ivitli the civets. Ifc li;vs a picliensilc 



tail like the kiiik.ijou (t^ee l"iage 127). 



to lier (her favourite is a spari'owj, and makes her 

 usual cry, and Janet runs to her and carries off the 

 l)ird, which she eats, feathers and all, in a very few 

 minutes, if she is hungry.'' When near a farm, the 

 meerkats will de\our eggs and 3'oung chickens. 

 They are also said to eat the eggs of the large 

 leopard-tortoise. The commonest is the Slender- 

 tailed Meehkat. It is found all over South Africa, 

 and is very common in the Karroo. It eats insects 

 and gnihs as well as small animals, and is commonl}' 

 kept as a pet throughout the Colony. 



We have now traced the long line of the 

 Carnivora from the lortlly Lion, the slayer of man and 

 his flocks and herds, and the Tiger, equally formidable 

 and no less specially developed for a life of rapine on 

 a great scale, to creatures as small and insignificant 

 as the ^leerkat, which is at least as much an insect- 

 feeder as a devourer of flesh, and the Ichneumons 

 and Ci\'ets. The highest form of specialisation in the 

 group is the delicate mechanism by which the chief 

 weapons of offence, the claws, are enabled to keep 

 their razor edge by being drawn up) into sheaths when 

 the animal walks, but can be instantly thrust out at pleasure, rigid and sharp as sword-blades. 

 The gradual process by which this equipment deteriorates in the Civets and disappears in the 

 Mongoose should be noted. There are many other carnivora, but none so formidable as those 

 possessing the retractile claws. Tlius the Bears, though often larger in bulk than the Lion, 

 are far inferior in the power of inflicting violent injury. At the same time such delicate 

 mechanism is clearly not necessary for the well-being of a species. The memliers of the 

 Weasel Tribe are quite as well able to take care of themselves as the small cats, though they 

 have non-retractile and not very formidable claws. 



Such a very abnormal animal as the Bixturong — of w-hich we are able to give an excellent 

 photograi^h — is doubtless riglitly assigned to the place in which modern science has placed 

 it. But it will be found that there are several very anomalous forms quite as detached from 

 any general type as is the binturong. 

 Nature does not make species on any 

 strictly graduated scale. Many of 

 these nondescript animals are so un- 

 like any other group or family that 

 they seem almost freaks of nature. 

 The binturong is certainly one of 

 these. 



The next group with which we 

 deal is that of the Hyjenas. In these 

 the equipment for catching living 

 prey is very weak. Speed and pursuit 

 are not their metier, but the eating 

 of dead and decaying animal matter, 

 and the consumption of bones. Hence 

 the jaws and teeth are highly de- 

 veloped, while the rest of the body 

 is degenerate. 



[X'jrlh FincMci/. 



I'hoto lif L. MoJkuid, r.Z.S.] 



JIOXGOOSE. 



The Indian mongoose is the great enemy of snakes. Another species eats the eggs of 



the crocodile. 



