Wild Facts

Photo from Bob (Wikimedia)

Yesterday we went a little domestic as we explored the life of the Golden Retriever so today, I figured we would do the exact opposite. We are going to look at a wild cat called the Serval. To catch a glimpse of this beautiful cat, we will need to make a quick trip over to Southern Africa, so make sure you dig your safari hat out of the closet. While we are there, make sure to keep an eye out for the Caracal, which happens to be a relative of today’s featured animal. Maybe we will be able to catch a little family reunion!

When you take a quick look at the Serval, you may think that it looks similar to a Cheetah. This makes sense since these two cats have several similar traits. In fact, it is believed that the Cheetah originated from an ancient Serval species. So what traits do these two cats share? Well, you have probably noticed the nice spotted coat of the Serval, which is an obvious physical characteristic that it shares with one of the fastest cats around. Similarly, the Serval is also a powerful and strong animal with long legs that allows them to be quite quick themselves. Okay, so they may not out run a Cheetah but the Serval is capable of running at speeds of 80 km/hr (50 mph), which is very impressive (and a lot faster than I can run).

Photo by Profberger at en.wikipedia

The legs of the Serval are actually the longest of any cat species compared to the rest of their body (so proportionally they are the longest) and they even have elongated toes that are surprising mobile. What is the point of these long toes? Well, apparently this helps our feline friend pull out partially covered prey. What types of animals would hide from a Serval? The obvious answer is “smart ones” but the ones that need to be on the lookout include hares, reptiles, frogs, fish, insects and even birds. As well, the Serval has been known to occasionally hunt larger animals such as the antelope but this is quite rare. Besides, I don’t think they would be able to pull an antelope out of hiding using just their toes.

Serval Fast Fact – You may have noticed that the Serval has incredibly large ears. As a result, these cats have an amazing sense of hearing and are capable of detecting vibrations over long distances. Naturally, this gives them an edge when hunting for the above mentioned prey species.

I hope you enjoyed our trip back to the Wild side. Have a great day and I will see you back here tomorrow for another fun Wild Fact.

I had so much fun yesterday writing about an animal that looks like a cat, which is named after a cat but is not a cat that I thought it would great to actually write about a cat! No, the Caracal isn’t your friendly, fluffy, neighbourhood cat but it is pretty interesting nonetheless.  Why don’t you hop on the Wild Facts Train and find out more about this medium-sized cat from Africa and the Middle-East.

Please ensure that your seats and tray tables are locked in the upright position because here we go.  Wait! I don’t think you have to worry about your seats and trays on a train, do you??  Oh well, moving on! The caracal has often been compared to the Eurasian Lynx and at one time was thought to be a close member to the lynxes. This is not the case as the caracal is more closely related to the serval (keep your eyes peeled for a Wild Fact on the Serval in the coming days).

Have you ever wondered where people come up with these weird names for animals? Who thought of the name “Caracal”?  Apparently, the term “Caracal” is turkish for black ear! Pretty original, eh?  If you are observant you may say to yourself that their ears are not that black so why are they named after it.  Then I will tell you that the young caracal cats ears are black on the outside but this colour disappears as they become adults.  Imagine what those awkward teenage years are like for the young caracal’s.  One black ear and one normal coloured ear!  The other cats laughing and pushing at poor Carl the Caracal just because he matured faster than the others.  Awww, that poor cat! Oh, before I forget I wanted to mention that the ears of the caracal are actually controlled by 20 different muscles. If I remember my human anatomy correctly, the human ear only has 2 muscles.  These ear muscles are significant for the caracal since it relies heavily on hearing to capture its prey.

For the record, they will prey on rodents, gazelles, antelopes and birds.  In my opinion the caracal is like most house cats that I am familiar with.  They are fussy and spoiled.  In fact, the caracal is such a fussy eater that it will actually use its claws to peel off the fur of the larger prey species.  The fur bothers them but apparently feathers are fine for them to eat.  I guess I am just a dog person since I have never understood cats.

This is the last stop for the Wild Facts Train.  I will be sure to pick you up the same time tomorrow.  Maybe we should just start car pooling?