_THE FOSSA, CIVETS, AND ICHNEUMONS._
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THE FOSSA.
In the FOSSA Madagascar possesses an altogether peculiar animal. It is a
very slender, active creature, with all its proportions much elongated. It
is of a bright bay uniform colour, with thick fur, and has sharp retractile
claws. It has been described as the natural connecting-link between the
Civets and the Cats, anatomically speaking. Thus it has retractile claws,
but does not walk on its toes, like cats, but on the soles of its feet (the
hind pair of which is quite naked), like a civet. Very few have been
brought to England; indeed, the first time that one was exhibited in our
Zoological Gardens was only ten years ago. Formerly stories were told of
its ferocity, which was compared to that of the tiger. These tales were
naturally the subject of ridicule. The fossa usually attains a length of
about 5 feet from snout to tail, and is the largest of the carnivora of
Madagascar. A fine young specimen lately brought to London, and in the
Zoological Gardens at the time of writing, is now probably full grown. It
is about the same length and height as a large ocelot, but with a far
longer tail, and is more slenderly built. The extreme activity of the fossa
no doubt renders it a very formidable foe to other and weaker creatures. It
has been described by a recent writer as being entirely nocturnal, and
preying mainly on the lemurs and birds which haunt the forests of
Madagascar. The animal kept at the Zoological Gardens has become fairly
tame. It is fed mainly on chickens' heads and other refuse from poulterers'
shops. Apparently it has no voice of any kind. It neither growls, roars,
nor mews, though, when irritated or frightened, it gives a kind of hiss
like a cat.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
FOSSA.
The only feline animal of Madagascar.]
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
LARGE INDIAN CIVET.
Civets are nocturnal in their habits. That shown here has just awakened in
broad daylight.]
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.
[Illustration: _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.
[Illustration: _Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co._] [_Parson's Green._
AFRICAN CIVET.
This photograph shows the finely marked fur of the species and the front
view of the head.]
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.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
SUMATRAN CIVET.
A small and very beautiful member of the Civet Family. It feeds largely on
fish.]
The PALM-CIVETS and HEMIGALES still further increase this numerous tribe.
Slight differences of skull, of the markings on 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; HARDWICKE'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
cocoanut-palm are their favourite 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 the 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
World possess. 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 is known to feed on fish and
crustacea, and to be semi-aquatic. The author of the chapter on the civets
in the Naturalist's Library says, "It may be likened to a climbing otter."
THE MONGOOSE AND ICHNEUMON FAMILY.
These are a numerous and useful race of small mammals, feeding mainly on
the creatures most annoying to man within tropical countries. Snakes, the
eggs of the crocodile, large lizards, rats, mice, and other creatures known
generally as "vermin," are their favourite food. It must be added that,
though they are most useful in destroying these, they also kill all kinds
of birds, and that their introduction into some of the West India Islands,
for the purpose of killing rats, has been fatal to the indigenous bird
life.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
GENET.
The genets are smaller than some civets, but allied to them. One was
anciently domesticated like a cat.]
THE INDIAN MONGOOSE.
This universal favourite is one of the largest, the head and body being
from 15 to 18 inches long, and the tail 14 inches. The fur is loose and
long, and capable of being erected. As in all the tribe, the tint is a
"pepper and salt," the "pepper" colour being sometimes blackish and
sometimes red, but a speckled appearance characterises the whole group.
This is the animal supposed to be immune from snake-bite. It is possibly so
to some extent, for it kills and eats the poisonous snakes, and it is now
known that the _eating_ of snake-poison tends to give the same protection
as inoculation does against certain diseases. But it is certain that in
most cases the mongoose, by its activity, and by setting up the hair on its
body, which makes the snake "strike short," saves itself from being bitten.
Many descriptions of the encounters between these brave little animals and
the cobra have been written. Here is one of the less known: "One of our
officers had a tame mongoose, a charming little pet. Whenever we could
procure a cobra--and we had many opportunities--we used to turn it out in
an empty storeroom, which had a window at some height from the ground, so
that it was perfectly safe to stand there and look on. The cobra, when
dropped from the bag or basket, would wriggle into one of the corners of
the room and there coil himself up. The mongoose showed the greatest
excitement on being brought to the window, and the moment he was let loose
would eagerly jump down into the room, when his behaviour became very
curious and interesting. He would instantly see where the snake was, and
rounding his back, and making every hair on his body stand out at right
angles, which made his body appear twice as large as it really was, he
would approach the cobra on tip-toe, making a peculiar humming noise. The
snake, in the meantime, would show signs of great anxiety, and I fancy of
fear, erecting his head and hood ready to strike when his enemy came near
enough. The mongoose kept running backwards and forwards in front of the
snake, gradually getting to within what appeared to us to be striking
distance. The snake would strike at him repeatedly, and _appeared_ to hit
him, but the mongoose continued his comic dance, apparently unconcerned.
Suddenly, and with a movement so rapid that the eye could not follow it, he
would pin the cobra by the back of the head. One could hear the sharp teeth
crunch into the skull, and, when all was over, see the mongoose eating the
snake's head and part of his body with great gusto. Our little favourite
killed a great many cobras, and, so far as I could see, never was bitten."
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
TWO-SPOTTED PALM-CIVET.
This is a West African species, which, with an allied form from East
Africa, represents the palm-civets in the Dark Continent.]
The EGYPTIAN MONGOOSE, or ICHNEUMON, has an equally great reputation for
eating the eggs of the crocodile; and the KAFFIR MONGOOSE, a rather larger
South African species, is kept as a domestic animal to kill rats, mice, and
snakes, of which, like the Indian kind, it is a deadly foe. There are more
than twenty other species, most of much the same appearance and habits.
The smooth-nosed mongoose tribe are closely allied creatures in South
Africa, mainly burrowing animals, feeding both on flesh and fruit. The
CUSIMANSES of Abyssinia and West Africa are also allied to them. Their
habits are identical with the above.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
MASKED PALM-CIVET.
A whole-coloured species of the group.]
THE MEERKATS, OR SURICATES.
Most people who have read Frank Buckland's Life will remember the suricate
which was his chief pet in Albany Street. The SURICATES, or MEERKATS,
burrow all over the South African veldt, especially in the sandy parts,
where they sit up outside their holes like prairie-dogs, and are seen by
day. They are sociable animals, and make most amusing pets. A full-grown
one is not much larger than a hedgehog, but more slender. It barks like a
prairie-dog, and has many other noises of pleasure or anger. A lady, the
owner of one, writes in _Country Life_: "It gets on well with the dogs and
cats, especially the latter, as they are more friendly to her, and allow
her to sleep by their side and on the top of them. One old cat brings small
birds to her (her favourite is a sparrow), and makes her usual cry, and
Janet runs to her and carries off the bird, which she eats, feathers and
all, in a very few minutes, if she is hungry." When near a farm, the
meerkats will devour eggs and young chickens. They are also said to eat the
eggs of the large leopard-tortoise. The commonest is the SLENDER-TAILED
MEERKAT. It is found all over South Africa, and is very common in the
Karroo. It eats insects and grubs as well as small animals, and is commonly
kept as a pet throughout the Colony.
[Illustration: _Photo by Robert D. Carson_] [_Philadelphia._
BINTURONG.
The binturong is placed with the civets. It has a prehensile tail like the
kinkajou (see page 127).]
We have now traced the long line of the Carnivora from the lordly 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 Meerkat, which is at least as
much an insect-feeder as a devourer of flesh, and the Ichneumons and
Civets. 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. Thus 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 members 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.
[Illustration: _Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S._] [_North Finchley._
MONGOOSE.
The Indian mongoose is the great enemy of snakes. Another species eats the
eggs of the crocodile.]
Such a very abnormal animal as the BINTURONG--of which we are able to give
an excellent photograph--is doubtless rightly 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 unlike 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 Hyænas. In these the
equipment for catching living prey is very weak. Speed and pursuit are not
their _métier_, but the eating of dead and decaying animal matter, and the
consumption of bones. Hence the jaws and teeth are highly developed, while
the rest of the body is degenerate.
[Illustration: _Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons._
MEERKAT.
A small, mainly insectivorous animal, found in South Africa; also called
the Suricate.]
The question of the comparative intelligence of the Apes and Monkeys, and
the carnivorous animals subsequently described in these pages, is an
interesting one. It would seem at first as if the Cat Tribe and their
relations, which have to obtain their prey by constant hunting, and often
to make use of considerable reflection and thought to bring their
enterprises against other animals to a successful issue, would be more
likely to develop intelligence and to improve in brain-power than the great
Apes, which find an easy living in the tropical forests, and only seek
fruits and vegetables for their food. Yet it is quite certain that this is
not the case. The Cat Tribe, with the exception of the domesticated cats,
does not show high intelligence. Even the latter are seldom trained to obey
man, though they learn to accommodate themselves to his ways of life. There
is no evidence that cats have any sense of number, or that any of them in a
wild state make any effort to provide shelter for themselves or construct a
refuge from their enemies, though the Leopard will make use of a cave as a
lair. In matters requiring intelligence and co-operation, such rodents as
the Beaver, or even the Squirrel, are far beyond the feline carnivora in
sagacity and acquired or inherited ingenuity. Except the Stoat, which
sometimes hunts in packs, no species of the carnivora yet dealt with in
this work combines to hunt its prey, or for defence against enemies. Each
for itself is the rule, and even among the less-specialised flesh-eating
animals of the other groups it is only the Dog Tribe which seems to
understand the principles of association for a common object.
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