Serval Cat on Leaves--3

African servals are small, slender cats with long legs, a lean body, short tail, and a small head. Their extra-long neck and legs give them the nickname "giraff...
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African servals are small, slender cats with long legs, a lean body, short tail, and a small head. Their extra-long neck and legs give them the nickname "giraffe cat." Servals have a coat that is tawny with both black lines and spots, while their belly is a soft white. They top out at 40 pounds (18 kilograms) yet have the largest ears of any cat. Just how big are those ears? If we had ears in the same proportion to our head as servals do, they would be the size of dinner plates! Some people think it would be fun to own a wild or exotic cat. This has led to a serval hybrid called the "savanna cat," a captive-raised serval bred with a domestic cat. Wild animals, even those born in zoos, keep their wild instincts for hundreds, even thousands, of years, so these cats do NOT make good pets. Special permits are required for trained experts or zoos to own or house wild servals, and it is against the law in some states to own savanna cats. The serval has a varied diet, eating birds, reptiles, frogs, crabs, and large insects. Standing on its hind legs, a serval can jump more than 9 feet (2.7 meters) straight up to grab a bird right out of the air! But small rodents are its most frequent prey item, and a serval doesn't hesitate to reach a long leg down into a rodent's burrow to snatch a meal out of the tunnel! Ultrasonic hearing ability allows the serval to hear the high-pitched communication of rodents. The cats' long, curved claws can also hook fish and frogs right out of the water. With its many hunting styles, varied diet, and fantastic hearing, the serval is well equipped to be the most successful predator of all the cats.
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