Rarely seen in daylight, the masked palm civet emerges from its lair at dusk to seek out a wide variety of ripe fruit and the occasional small mammal or bird. Like many of the viverrids, it is equipped with well-developed defensive scent glands which it uses to produce a sickening smell if attacked. The scent glands of the closely related African and Indian civets are the source of the musk-like substance known as civet which is often used in perfumes and other cosmetics.