THE ASIATIC CIVET.[77]
The Asiatic Civet, large Civet Cat, or Zibet,“inhabits Bengal, extending northwards into Nepaul and Sikkim, and into Cuttack, Orissa, and Central India on the south. It also extends into Assam, Burmah, Southern China, and parts of Malayana. It is said to frequent brushwood and grass, also the dense thorny scrub that usually covers the bends of tanks. It is very carnivorous, and destructive to poultry, game, &c., but will also, it is said, eat fish, crabs, and insects. Hounds, and indeed all Dogs, are greatly excited by the scent of the Civet, and will leave any other scent for it. It will readily take to water if hard pressed.”
The Zibet is forty-seven to fifty-six inches in length, from thirteen to twenty of this being taken up by the tail. It is of a yellowish-grey colour, with black spots and stripes. The throat and sides of the neck are white, and the fine tail is ringed with black.
This species is said to be tamed more easily than its African relative; but of this, as well as of its habits, very little is known.