Civet Coffee anyone?

This is another nocturnal animal that’s incredibly elusive.
It’s an African Civet and you can recognise it by its trotting gait close to the ground as well as a thick bushy tail.

Civets will eat anything from insects to small vertebrates, which it kills by biting repeatedly and rips the food apart by using the forefront paws to hold the prey down.

One of its most enjoyed food sources is the poisonous millipede, which contains cyanide that’s released when exposed to the acidic digestive juices.

This potential cyanide poisoning is believed to be counteracted by civets eating the fruits off certain trees, allowing their digestive system to counteract the poison.

The civet has been used commercially for some very lucrative businesses – like perfume. Secretions from its anal gland which it uses to mark territory and can hold the strong odour for up to 3 months, has been used as a fixative in perfume. How they originally decided to venture on this quest is a story for another time!

Another well known use for a civet is to produce the most expensive coffee in the world, whereby coffee beans are fed to the civet, passed through its digestive system and then grinded up and used for coffee called kopi.

Has anybody tried this delicacy or noticed their new perfume stays on for a very long time? 😂😅