Eating Without Being Eaten
Servals live in the tall grass and specialize in catching rodents. This is where their huge ears come into play. In the tall grass it is hard to see a small animal crawling along the ground. The serval listens carefully to detect and locate those animals. Then they jump high over the grass so as not to make noise that might scare their prey and land with their weight on it and mouth poised to deliver the killing blow. They are extremely accurate. Without even seeing their target they manage to land right on it. Amazingly, they are successful about half of the time. This is a much higher percentage than any other cat.
It is wondrous to watch them in action. There are videos on the internet for those wishing to see this without traveling to Africa.
Servals tend to be solitary animals. That, along with their small size, requires that they are alert for those who might attack them. Here we see another important use of their large ears. Servals, like cheetahs, are mostly active during the day. During the night they rest. Actually they ‘catnap’ as they need to stay alert for danger.
Oddities
Unusual to most cat species, servals love the water and like to stay nearby a water source. The tiger and jaguar frequently go in the water, but servals actually play in it. They also enjoy playing in trees. Their playfulness may be one reason that some view servals as having pet potential
Only the big cats are capable of roaring. Only small cats and cheetahs can purr while inhaling and while exhaling. Consequently, servals cannot roar but can purr, and that purr can be quite loud. They do not, however, meow. Instead they chirp like cheetahs and mew.