Blogging Through the Alphabet ~ “S” for Serval #abcblogging

Joining up with Marcy over at Ben & Me for “Blogging through the Alphabet”.

Since our family has a general love and appreciation for all the animals the Lord has created…I am going to attempt to “Blog through the Alphabet” using animals. Here is what we have done so far:

A for Alpaca   B for Bearded Dragon   C for Crocodile   D for Donkey  E for Elephant Shrew   F for Fennec Fox   G for Grey Mouse Lemur   H for Howler Monkey   I for Indian Palm Squirrel  J is for Jellyfish  K is for Koala   L is for Lionfish   M is for Monitor Lizard  N is for Nurse Shark   O for Octopus  {skipped P}  Q for Quetzal  {skipped R}

And now…”S” for Serval…

Scientific Name: Leptailrus serval

This is a medium-sized cat found in Africa. It has spotted fir and long legs and is often thought of as a small version of the cheetah. They have large rounded ears and four stripes that start between their ears and run down between eventually breaking up in to spots. They have a short tail that has black rings and a black tip.

They average 20-30 pounds and stand 15-25 inches at the shoulder.

They have excellent sight, smell and hearing which helps with hunting. Unlike most cats, the serval will happily wade in to water to catch its food. The Serval is a carnivorous animal that hunts and eats primarily rats and other small rodents (this consists of approximately 94% of their diet) along with fish and frogs in the water, large insects and small birds, which they are able to catch both on the ground and by leaping into the air.

They have a crepuscular lifestyle which means they hunt mostly in the early morning and evening hours.

Servals are solidatary animals keeping mostly to themselves. They have territories that are approximately seven square miles which is marked by scent of urine or clawing on trees.

The mostly breed in the spring. The female will then make a den where she will have one to three kittens after a gestation period of 73 days. They suckle milk until they are about five months old and then begin to hunt with her. They normally stay with her until they are about one year old.

Their average life span is 10 – 12 years.

I hope you have learned some fun things about the Serval! Come back next week to see what interesting facts we discuss about an animal that starts with the letter T!

Here’s praying we all have fun learning!

 

Tagged: Animals, Homeschooling