binturong blog

Binturong?

Some of this blog post is fictional.

Binturong.

Since I have a blog at binturo.ng, it occurs to me that I should write about binturongs.

Not in an encyclopedic way. For that, Duckduckgo's first result for 'binturong' is the Wikipedia page on the binturong, and other sources are available.

Binturongs are a threatened species, and I'm aware there's a group dedicated to binturong conservation - which is good, because I'd very much like binturongs to stay around.

What's a binturong?

Opposite of a binturight.

Really?

No. I did say that some of this blog post is fictional.

Let's try this again. What's a binturong?

The binturong, code name "Arctictis binturong", is a vivverid; a small feliform carnivore related to civets and genets. They also aren't too far away from mongooses or hyenas, especially if they all share a house.

Binturongs range across forests in southeast Asia, from Nepal through to Vietnam, and south across Malaysia and Indonesia. They are omnivorous, so they'll eat most things, and they're arboreal, so they resemble trees. Wait, no; they live in trees.

The typical binturong is about twice as big as a housecat and around four times as heavy. Often they have dark fur with white whiskers. Wikipedia uses technical terms to suggest they have big noses; that's fair.

Binturongs also have fluffy tufts on their ears, long prehensile tails, and they smell like popcorn.

Sorry, what?

To be honest, I'd question if binturongs smell like popcorn. Here's the estimated age of each:

Popcorn: 9000 years (a generous overestimate via Wikipedia)
Binturong: 8.66 Mya (million years ago; low-end estimate via PeerJ)

Binturongs came first, so I'd say popcorn smells like them.

Silly semantics aside: they do seem like they could be imaginary creatures, and I love that. Some other good creatures that furries didn't need to invent because they already exist: the Indian giant squirrel, and the marbled polecat.

Okay, so why binturongs?

I met a friendly binturong in my garden about ten years ago. Very relaxed. She enjoyed perching, and fruit, and playing around. By surprise I got knocked off my feet; no bother. Creature stuff. A couple of scratches.

Took about a month after that for me to change into a binturong for the first time. I dunno; there's something about tree critters. Binturongs, martens, squirrels. Takes hold, and then you've got all this fluff and a tail that goes on for days. :3

Really.

What do you think? <3

Favourite, share, or reply to this post on the fediverse.