The cute Chinese ferret-badger. Yes, he is in a bucket!
CHINESE FERRET-BADGER
AKA
SMALL-TOOTHED FERRET-BADGER
(Melogale moschata)
Order Carnivora
This carnivore lives in burrows or crevices and is active at dusk and at night. It is a good climber and feeds on fruit, insects, small animals and worms. Although it looks cute, it can be quite aggressive when alarmed and its anal secretions are foul-smelling. This little creature was caught by the guards in my old flat and kept for me in a bucket. I released it shortly after a few snaps with an iPhone. I have not been able to find one in the wild, even on camera traps, but others have seen them, typically on evening walks.
SEE THEM: Adapt well to rural areas of human habitation, using farmland and vegetable plots as feeding sites. Suitable locations to find earth worms. SPECIES ID: Distinctive mask-like face markings and a pig like nose distinguish this species from the more common and larger civets.
The Chinese ferret-badger (Melogale moschata), is also known as the small-toothed ferret-badger. This little creature was caught by the guards in my old flat, and kept for me, as they knew I loved wildlife and I often helped them move snakes and other wildcreatures that had found their way into peoples flats and gardens. I snapped a couple of pics with my phone and took the bucket up the road to let him loose in the nearby forest.
Earthworms, amphibians and insects are important components of the Chinese ferret-badger's diet. They also eat fleshy fruits such as the Chinese plum, oriental raisin tree, date-plum and Chinese kiwi.
Comments