MySQL Troubleshooting

Colophon

The animal on the cover of MySQL Troubleshooting is is a Malayan badger (Mydaus javanensis), also known as a Javan stink badger, a Sunda stink badger, a teledu, or an Indonesian stink badger. The genus Mydaus includes one other species, the Palawan stink badger (M. marchei). The stink badgers were long considered part of the badger family, but recent DNA studies have shown that they are more closely related to the skunks.

Stink badgers have brownish-black fur, with a white or yellow cap and a long skunk-like stripe down the back. Their long muzzles are capped by pig-like snouts, and they have long curved claws on their front feet. They measure 12–20 inches long (including a very short tail) and may weigh up to 8 pounds.

Stink badgers are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Phillipines. They live in forests and nearby open areas, and reside at many elevations on the mountainous islands. The nocturnal animals live in underground burrows, which they may dig themselves or appropriate from (or share with) porcupines. They eat eggs, insects, plants, and carrion; their claws and snouts are used to dig and root for earthworms. They usually have a litter of two or three, but little else is known about their social lives and breeding.

Lydekker commented on the species’ “evil odour” in his Royal Natural History, calling the spray from its rear glands “foetid in the extreme.” The secretions are used for defense against predators, which include the Javan hawk-eagle, feral cats, and tigers. ...