Caught one again, the previous one was in April 2012.
For some reason, the Malayan
Civet (Oriental Civet) has been frequenting our house and they can be very
annoying especially at night. There have been occasions when they made their
homes here too.
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| This was caught April 2012 |
Although they behave and have a slight resemblance to a cat,
and Malaysians call them Civet Cats or Musang they do not belong to the cat
family. They are from the Viverridae
family. They have short legs and long tails and some have a special gland
(civet) that secrets a special strong scent. They have been hunted for this
special civet for perfume making. Honestly, some of their scent is so
overpowering; not in a nice way. Some though exude, a scent similar to that of
our ‘pandan’ leaves. Hearsay is that this ‘pandan’ musang is good for the curry
pot.
For some reason they seem particularly attracted to our
roof/ceiling. It could be that with the destruction of their habitat in the forests,
they have no alternative but to make their homes in human settlements.
So far, we have entrapped about six or seven of them over a
span of five to six years.
We had initially requested for assistance from Jabatan
Perhilitan, but we now do it ourselves after being shown how to set up the
traps. We would usually use fruits to lure them into the cage. However, we
found that bananas made better baits. Once, my neighbour handed the staff from
Jabatan Perhilitan a fish for bait. When we caught them, my husband would
transport them (in the cages, which measures approximately 2.5’ x 1.5’x 1.5’)
to some secondary jungle, beyond a river further away from our home and release
them.
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| Just entrapped, could be the mate |
Being omnivorous, they could be attracted to the fruit
trees, birds and bats in our garden or that of our neighbours. These Malayan
Civets usually feed during the night and their claws and teeth are very sharp.
One has to be careful to avoid getting bitten when releasing them. Not to
worry, they would be so relieved dashing to their freedom that, being hostile
is not their preoccupation.
Do you think they could backtrack and come back? Is that why
there are so many of them?
Or do they just follow a food trail ? I do hope they cannot
swim well.
