| |||
| | Who is Fevra? | |
| | Savannah Cats | |
| | Servals | |
| | FGSs | |
| | Artwork | |
| | Characters | |
| | Misc. | |
| |||
Real Life (RL) information about Servals is the base for this, with MUCK-specific information added in, and taking precedence. Created November 1999, last updated January 2002 June 2005.
Length: 67 - 100 cm / 2 - 3 feet (Excludes tail)
Tail Length: 25 - 35 cm / 10 - 14 inches
Height at Shoulder: 55 - 62 cm / 21 - 25 inches
Weight (Avg.): Males: 13 kg / 28 pounds; Females: 11 kg / 24 pounds
Body Shape: Distinctly feline, but long-legged, short tailed, and with large upright ears.
Katika, a typical adult male Serval.
Markings: The base coat color varies from deep bronze to pale tan or yellow, but lightens to cream or near white on muzzle, throat, underside, and inner surface of the legs. This is overlaid with a fairly regular pattern of round spots merging to stripes along the back, two horizontal bars at the top of the forelegs, broken rings on lower legs and tail.
The face is mostly the base color, with the lighter shade on muzzle, as mentioned, and framing the eyes. There aren't usually many spots on the face, and they're small, but there is streaking between the ears that extends down the back of the head. There is a bold "necklace" pattern of spots on the throat.
Serval's individual patterns of spots are different, of course. The spots may be dense or diffuse, large blotches or small freckles, true black or closer to brown.
A range of fur colors of characters on the MUCK.
Variations: Beyond the color variations already described, some major variations in coloration can occur in individuals.
Servaline: A well-known color variation, [although one which has not yet been observed in any The Lion King MUCK character] is the Servaline. In this, the powdering effect of the small flecks of dark spots gives a dusty brownish hue over the whole coat of the individual.
Melanism: Melanistic Servals (dark coated enough to appear almost black, in the same way that "Panthers" are a color variation of Leopards) are rare, but have been known to occur. These are more common in forest or jungle areas where the dark shadows camouflage them. The base color of the pelt is darkened to a grey-brown so deep that the black spots are barely visible. The larger blotches may be visible at some angles of light, the smaller—as on throat and paws—almost never.
A female melanistic Serval cub, Usiku'mzao.
Albinism: Albinism has been observed in many animals, and presumably occurs in the Serval species as well, but has never been observed. This, a total lack of pigment, results in an individual who appears white, or with a faint tan or pale grey pattern, a ghost of the usual spotted markings. Eyes are red or pinkish. Inner ears, nose, paw pads, and all other membranes are pink also.
The face of an albino Serval.
Green: (See the section on Flying Green Servals.)
Eyes: Serval eyes, with stereotypically feline slit pupils, are usually a shade of amber, from deep orange-brown to pale gold. Yet considerable variation has been observed: there are also individuals with green or teal eyes, or blue—ranging from a deep tone to light crystal.
A young female, Mshika, with dark blue eyes.
Ears: These prominent features deserve separate consideration. Set close together on the top of the head, they are large, and more oval than triangular although there are individual variations in shape. The inner ears are pale tawny or pink, flushing to red in times of embarrassment. The backs of the ears are black, with a single white spot or horizontal bar. Occasional strange individuals have vestigial tufts of black fur tipping the ears. Ears are highly vulnerable, and the ears of many adults are torn or cropped.
Paws: A few individual Servals have paws which instead of being their base coat color are a different tone: black, creamy white, or even greyish. Usually, however, they are the same color or a shade lighter, marked with a scattering of small spots.
Both the fore- and hindpaws have four toes, the forepaws also having a dewclaw somewhat higher on the inner surface of the legs. This gives something of an appearance of thumbs, but Servals of course do not possess opposable thumbs or indeed paws capable of delicate manipulation. Each toe bears a sharp hooked claw. Retractable, these are kept sheathed as is usual for felines. The underside of the paw and of each toe bears a fleshy pad, brownish, pinkish or mottled in color, which hardens with use.
Habitat: Usually grassland, but in practice any place with sufficient water source and prey, including scrubland, forest, or even jungle. Resting place is usually either an earth den, thicket, or a form (a hollow mound of grass).
Diet: Servals are able to catch fish; assorted insects; mice, Meerkats and other small mammals; lizards or even small snakes; birds; and (by legend at least) small or baby antelope such as Dik-Dik. Most Servals are not adverse to Zebra or suchlike large prey if another animal has run them down, but attitude to carrion is a matter of personal taste.
Hunting: As might be expected from observation of their large ears, Servals tend to locate their prey by sound, especially in dim light, using sight and smell to a lesser extent. A Serval's characteristic pounce after prey in the grass is quite spectacular: a high, almost vertical spring which results in the Serval landing, if all goes well, almost directly on top of their target.
A mature female, Msanii,
listening for prey in the grass.
Small birds, and jumping insects such as grasshoppers, can be caught from the air by a well-aimed swipe or clapping together of the Serval's forepaws.
Overall, Servals generally hunt alone, by skill and speed rather than by stealth. Mothers will of course hunt with their cubs, and the exhilaration of a co-operative hunt between a mated pair, even if only after some small prey, is an effective way to bond.
A scarred adult male, Shenryyr,
terrorizing a Meerkat.
Territory: Although they can be civil or even friendly to one another, adult Servals are generally not comfortable until territorial boundaries and rights are well understood. This is of course strongest within the genders—female-female or male-male jostling for hierarchy or land—but occurs between them as well. It is certainly not unheard of for a Serval to be banned from the territory of another—whether that is respected, however, is another matter!
Pairing: Serval behaviour regarding pairing is as variable as their coat color, if not more so. The "traditional" way of life is for a number of females to have bordering territories. A male's territory overlaps and encircles those of the females, and it is that male who deals with intruders, and fathers any offspring. This is vaguely like the Lions' pride system, although very much less structured. A hierarchy of the females in this system, although generally informal, is present.
Portrait of a mated pair, Msanii and Pajadi.
Then there is exclusive pairing off between a male and female, defending a joint territory and raising any cubs as a pair. At the other end of the spectrum is an unsociable female who remains solitary in her own territory, and is the sole provider for any offspring she might bear.
Pairings between females may be assumed to be rare; certainly, these are rarely talked of. Yet they do occur, and there are one or two such pairings described even in legend.
Reproduction: Females generally begin to "cycle" some months after they have reached adulthood. The interval varies, but is roughly two months in length. There is a week or two of buildup, characterized by irritability, aggression, possessiveness, and all too often a stormy uncertainty, but the peak of estrus, otherwise known as "heat" or "season", lasts for little longer than a day, and it is only at this time that most females will accept advances.
If conception results, pregnancy becomes noticeable about a month afterwards, that is, something less than half-way into the seventy-odd day (around two and a half months) gestation period. The cubs can be felt moving by the mother a week or two after this point, and she steadily grows rounder and heavier over the continuing weeks, although the amount of change depends somewhat on the number of cubs being carried.
A newborn Serval cub, Zalirah,
Fevra's firstborn daughter.
Growth: Up to five (usually between one and three) cubs (or kittens, as they are also called) are in a litter. The cubs are born furred, small and weak as might be expected. Their eyes open around a week after birth, filmed with pale blue-grey and do not focus well until the cubs are some weeks old and their eye color changes. At birth, a cub's ears are small, rounded, and laid back against the head, but they grow quickly and are characteristically large and upright by the time the cub is a month old. It is around this point that the young are weaned onto solid food, as well as when they begin to babble, then talk coherently.
Their mother cycles again once the cubs are fully weaned, around a month and a half after their birth. If she conceives again, her previous litter should not suffer, for the young reach adolescence at somewhere between four and six months of age, and adulthood after a comparable period of time.
Skills: Not afraid of water, Servals can swim confidently, rather an asset when it comes to catching fish. As well, Servals are skillful and rapid tree climbers.
A female, Etana, lounging on a branch.
Expression of Emotions: When contented, or experiencing some other intense emotion, Servals purr. Anger is indicated by an overall tense, stiff posture, flattened ears laid back and to the side, accompanied by raised fur along neck and spine. A Serval's desire to actually talk coherently tends to fade when enraged, and they resort instead to growling, snarling (when less confident) and spitting.
Shenryyr, a male Serval, with an angry expression.
Also an example of unusual fur and eye color,
vestigial ear tufts, and the all-too-common ear injury.
Belief System: Knowledge of this is only sketchy, and of course Serval society is likely to contain cults, like any other. There seems to be a guiding figure, the Allmother. As well, the Elements—most prominent of which is water—are a guiding force.
Time Measurement: Minutes and hours are only used in a vague kind of way, and it is the day which is the standard measure of time. Weeks are a shaky, not very relevant concept which tends to be ignored. Months are generally referred to as "moons", but are not precisely measured. An effective, if private, measurement of time for a mature female is the two-moon estrus cycle.
Lineage: Lines of descent are very important, especially to females who from cubhood are taught their Matriline. Patrilines, also, presumably have some importance, at least to males. However, some individuals, usually self-confident young males, deliberately set out from their birthplace into the world as wanderers, or Rangfars, and many of these renounce their lineage to start afresh. In introduction, then, they are merely "Rangfar", with no kin mentioned. Others, especially females, without a known lineage, can refer to themselves as "of an unknown mother, by an absent sire, in a lost matriline."
A traditional greeting is an exchange of not only names but lineages, as in "I am Kukeni, of Kilahri of Ryana, in Gressir's matriline." The name of the father is not necessarily included, but a male commonly does state that as well. Kukeni's brother, for example, tends to introduce himself as "Batui. Of Kilahri, by Tuisaar. Through Ryana back to Gressir's matriline."
A portrait of the wanderer male Batui.
Naming Patterns: Names usually end in a or i, and the doubling of a letter is not unusual, as in the names Shenryyr and Msanii. "Uncommon" sounds, such as z or y, actually appear in Serval names quite frequently. Incidents of "double" names, with a glottal stop, such as Weusi'mosi, occur as well, in defiance of the usual pattern of short [five or six letter] names.
Relations with Other Species: Completely individual. Most Servals are civil to other felines, even the larger ones, but ignore the "small lives": Meerkats, mice, and other prey animals. It is hardly necessary to add that a Serval making an effort to talk to fish or insects would be highly unlikely, as well as quite possibly forming evidence of mental imbalance.
A cub, Fevra, gnawing on a Fish
rather than conversing with it.
Some Servals do form associations, even friendships or a kind of family relationship, with other animals, usually other felines, such as Caracals, Cheetahs, Leopards, and the ever-present Lions. These connections are more likely to persist in Servals who have grown up with them.
Flying Green Servals: A persistent, if bizarre, legend exists of a race of winged Servals, green in color—not solidly colored, but spotted with deep green over a lighter base coat. Some believe that these live in the moon, or intend to conquer it.
A Flying Green Serval.
The Allmother A term used in the novel Tailchaser's Song. First used ICly in around September 1997, by the Serval character Naomi.
Rangfar The word is taken from Garry Kilworth's novel The Foxes of Firstdark, also published as Hunter's Moon: A Story of Foxes.
Lineage The format of the recital of lineage is very loosely based on that used in Mary Stanton's novel Piper at the Gate, the sequal to The Heavenly Horse From The Outermost West.
Flying Green Servals First suggested by Pajadi, both ICly and OOCly, these took on a life of their own with input from other members of the OOC Serval community.
