THE CIVETS AND GENETS.
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 grey. 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 them—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 grey 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 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 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.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
AFRICAN CIVET.
This is one of the largest of the Civet Tribe. The perfume known as "civet" is obtained from it.
The Common Genet is black and grey, 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 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 South 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, grey, marbled and spotted with black, and no disagreeable odour, 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 to 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.