The name Civet actually refers to about a dozen different species, but for continuity’s sake I’ll highlight the African Civet below as the group’s representative.

African Civet civettictis civetta

Civets are best described as large mongooses, although you could also imagine them to be otters who figured out how to run. Found in Africa, East Asia, and those islands between Asia and Australia, Civets are nocturnal hunters that will eat anything they can get their paws on. In jungles this means obscure animals and fruits, while in urban environments Civets are known to rummage through trash.

However, these guys are more than just exotic raccoons. In Southeast Asia, the Asian Palm Civet’s droppings help produce the world’s most expensive coffee: Kopi Luwak. Apparently the enzymes in this mammal’s digestive track seep into coffee beans, resulting in much less bitter coffee. I’m not sure how this was first discovered, but since the process doesn’t harm the critter I’m all for it.

“Hey there, I pooped about a mile back. Better go shift through it for some coffee beans!”

Also, Civets produce a musk that is used as a stabilizing agent in cologne. This is less interesting to me than the coffee beans, but I felt it worth mentioning.

Finally, the main reason that I wanted to feature the Civet was this photo…

As hard as a tried, I could not find what specific species this guy is (although I’m convinced it is a civet*). What I did find was an awesome blog post from someone who spent their childhood in India. He describes the bham, an apparently vicious night terror that decapitates newly-born kittens. That last bit alone is well worth making the Civet the Animal of the Week.

*Correction to this post. Upon further research, I have found that the species pictured above is the Binturong, or Palawan Bearcat. This animal is closely related to civets, but is in a separate genus and so shouldn’t be referred to as a civet. A Bearcat dedicated post is in our collective future.

Thanks as always to wikipedia, this website (which copied my idea for a blog but whatever), and “Joy Forever” who wrote about the bahm,