Abstract:We observed the diet component of Masked Palm Civets(Paguma larvata) by checking the content of stomach, feeding site and feces from Apr 2005 to Oct 2005, in Houhe Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China. The results show that the major diet components are fruit vegetation (37.5%) and Arthropoda (25.2%), and non-fruit vegetation (9.9%) and small mammals (7.1%) are also formed a relatively higher proportion in the food items. There is a seasonal difference in the diet composition, in spring, the food items include Arthropoda (35.6%), non-fruit vegetation (26.7%), small mammals (15.6%), mollusca (4.4%) and fruit vegetation (8.9%). Masked Palm Civets feed on more fruit vegetation (39.8%) and Arthropoda (29.2%) in summer, and non-fruit vegetation (2.7%), small mammals (5.3%) and birds (0.9%) are a small proportion in their diet. In autumn, fruit vegetation (63.9%) forms the most component in their diet, the remainder items are birds (1.0%), small mammals (0.6%) and Reptilia (0.4%). Food diversity index is decreased from spring to autumn as food items of non-fruit vegetation reduce and fruit vegetation items increase.