A 45-pound male serval has escaped his home in South Carolina, USA. I presume his home is the house of his owner. He is lost, wandering around a pleasant place called Palmetto Bluff which appears to be an exclusive private gated community. He was spotted there but security won’t the cat’s owner in to try and find her pet wild cat.
The photo appears to have been taken from someone’s car. It is shame that the person who took the photo could not have apprehended the cat who I also presume is tame. He must be. Although Mark Robertson (no idea who he is) says that people should not try and capture him. He should be fairly easy to capture but perhaps he is simply not tame enough and has turned feral. And he’ll be frightened. He’ll run from people. And hide etc..
The fear is that someone will see him and become frightened (note the fear on both sides: humans and cat). Then he may be shot because he’ll be seen as a danger to residents. Quite a lot of servals have been killed in suburban areas, shot or run over, after they escaped their home. The same goes for F1 Savannahs.
His name is Toby. It is not uncommon to hear about domesticated servals. They are big though and too wild as far as I am concerned to make good pets.
Toby has been missing since August, which is a long time. His owner says he is thin. That being the case he is struggling to get food. Servals are great at killing rodents. Perhaps where he is there aren’t many rats.
Toby’s home is in Hardeeville, which is around ten kilometres east of Palmetto Bluff.
Toby’s owner, Christine Ismail, spotted the photo above on Facebook and identified the cat as belonging to her.
“Remember he isn’t going to attack but stay quiet so he doesn’t run off.”
Ismail said Toby has light-colored fur with dark spots and “makes a noise that sounds like a loud chirp,”.
Anyone with information can call:
- Jasper County Animal Control at 843-726-7519
- Beaufort County Animal Services at 843-255-5010
