The CIVETS 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 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 AFRICAN CIVET and INDIAN CIVET 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-color, with black collar and markings. It is for 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 tree or four kittens 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 as a domestic pet. Like all the civets, it will eat fruit and vegetables.
The GENETS, though resembling the civets, have no scent-pouch. They are African creature, 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-color. 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 killing rats. Several other very similar forms are found in Africa. The presence of such a very Oriental-looking animal in Europe is something of a surprise, though many persons forget that our Southern European animals are very like those of Africa and the East. The porcupine, which is common in Italy and Spain, and the lynx and Barbary ape are instances. A tame genet kept by an acquaintance of the writer in Italy was absolutely domesticated like a tame mongoose. It had very pretty fur, gray, marbled and spotted with black, and no disagreeable odor, except a scent of musk. It was a most active little creature, full of curiosity, and always anxious to explore not only every room, but every cupboard and drawer in the house. Perhaps this was due o its keenness in hunting mice, a sport of which it never tired. It did not play with the mice when caught as a cat does, but ate them at once.
The LINSANGS, an allied group, are met with in the East, from India to Borneo and Java. They are more slender than the genets, and more arboreal. Of the NEPALESE LINSANG Hodgson writes: "This animal is equally at home on trees and on the ground. It breeds and dwells in the hollows of decaying trees. It is not gregarious, and preys mainly on living animals." A tame female owned by him is stated to have been wonderfully docile and tractable, very sensitive to cold, and very fond of being petted. there is an allied West African species.
The PALM-CIVETS and HEMIGALES still further increase this numerous tribe. Slight differences of skull, of the markings of the tail, which may only have rings on the base, and of the foot and tail, are the naturalist's guide to their separation from the other civets; HARDWICK'S HEMIGALE has more zebra-like markings. Borneo, Africa, India, and the Himalaya all produce these active little carnivora; but the typical palm-civets are Oriental. They are sometimes known as Toddy-cats , because they drink the toddy from the jars fastened to catch the juice. The groves of coconut-palm are their favorite haunts; but they will make a home in holes in the thatched roofs of houses, and even in the midst of cities. There are many species in this group.
The BINTURONG is another omnivorous, tree-haunting animal allied to the civets; but it has a prehensile tail, which few other mammals of the Old Worl posses. It is a blunt-nosed, heavy animal, sometimes called the Bear-cat. very little is known of its habits. It is found from the Eastern Himalaya to Java.
The last of the Civet Family is BENNETT'S CIVET, the only instance of a cat-like animal with partly webbed feet. Found in the Malay Peninsula and in Sumatra and Borneo, it is very rare, but it is known to feed on fish and crustacea, and to be semiaquatic. The author of the chapter on the civets in the naturalist's Library says," It may be likened to a climbing otter."
