Viverridae Spotlight: African Civet

Wow, I just found a new love! Have you ever heard of a civet? Civets are these delightful creatures found mainly in Africa and Asia, and they are really just wonderful. I might just bounce around this one for a while.

In this blog, we shall have a look at one of my favorites--the African civet. From head to tail-base, the African civet measures as much as 33 inches with a tail that can be as long as 19 inches. They also have a shoulder height of 16 inches. The African civet is a stocky animal with short legs. They have a pointed snout, round ears, and their tail is very bushy

The African civet is what is called a general omnivore. They are not too picky on what they eat. They pretty much just see the outside world as a happy buffet. These creatures are primarily nocturnal, which means they spend most of their hunting hours at night. As far as behavior, they act something like a cross between a cat and raccoon, and the only reason I know this is because of a bunch of videos I had to find. You would be surprised as how little textual information there is about how they behave.

Speaking of those videos, one of the most charming things I saw was a group of domesticated African civets drinking from a bowl of milk. The video first showed a cat daintily lapping up the milk, and then came a number of the civets which began to messily dunk their heads in and chomp about as if they were eating solid food. Milk was going everywhere, and the flabbergasted feline was forced to walk away with indignation. After watching the group attack that bowl of milk, I found myself chuckling at their unabashed enjoyment of getting a little messy together.

Despite the video--which depicted domesticated civets--they are usually known for being solitary. This is an attribute learned very early in life. After an African civet is born, they are free to go out into the world on their own after only 18 days. This sort of behavior is encouraged by the parents; however, the offspring has to return for their mother's milk. This sort of free roaming weening goes on for 2 months, and then the child is set free.

The African civet is not anywhere near endangered, and there is a reason why. Remember how many mustelids--such as the skunk--had a scent defense gland located near the anus? The African civet has one too, but here things get a little peculiar. This excretion--which is just simply known as civet--is harvested on a regular basis. On its own, it smells just awful; however, once deluded in water, it becomes like sweet perfume! In fact, it is often used as a base in perfumes. There is no need to kill the animal to get this stuff, and because of its value to the perfume industry, the creatures are highly prized and protected from all harm. What makes me laugh here is when I think about them sniffing each other's butts, they will probably be thinking, "Hey, that isn't so bad!" But I digress.

There is no fiction that I know of concerning this particular species of civet. My own imagination focuses mainly on the perfume angle and their hilarious drinking methods more than anything. I had this hilarious idea of a group of African civets going around trying to pitch their perfume line to people; however, nobody wants it, because they know where it came from. Upset from their lack of success, they go to the local tavern and messily drink milk to cure their sorrows. The bartender is upset, because there are all these messy milk-drinking civets filling up his bar, and he asks them what he can do to make them leave. In the end, the civets go on their way, and the bartender ends up with a lot of perfume bottles. For the African civets, it was a good day after all!

I never heard about the civets at all until just a few days ago. Now, I am a little obsessed. Expect to hear about a few more of these in the upcoming spotlights. Sit down, grab a bowl of milk, and dunk right in.

Thank you for reading my blog! If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. Glub, glub.