Of Kenya’s other cats, the Serval, with its long legs and large oval ears, is distinguished by its medium build. It weighs around 13 to 15 kilos. The Servals mains main food is rodents but ranging far and wide across Kenya -from lowland savannah to high mountain moorland -this adaptable cat also eats lizards, fish, vegetables, birds and small antelope. To catch birds it leaps high into the air as the victim takes off. Litters usually number between two to four and the call of the kitten is a plaintive high-pitched how……how………how. The young are born and reared in old porcupine and ant bear burrows. The Serval is an agile tree climber. They make delightful pets.

Sloping through the bush at night, it’s large, elegant and tufted ears quivering and alert, the Caracal is all too rare. Its flat head, long legs, and powerful shoulders give it the proportions of a lynx. With hind legs longer than the fore-legs, few cats can emulate the caracals sudden spring into the air to pull down a bird in mid-flight, sometimes as high as three metres-for its size, a phenomenal distance.

The soft thick coat has no distinct stripes or spots. The tail is noticeably shorter than that of any other African cat. The caracal is also found in the Near East, India and Arabia.

Looking just like an overgrown domestic tabby, few cat lovers can resist the appeal of the Africa Wild Cat .With less distinct markings and shorter tail; they are easy to distinguish from the home variety.

Being ,nocturnal ,they spend the day hidden in bush ,rock crevices or tall grass ,emerging at night to hunt birds, rodents ,snakes,lizards,hares,and young or small antelope. They also prey on domestic stock and poultry. These cats often interbreed with domestic cats. Although they are not cats, civets, genets and mongooses, all carnivorous viverrids, are included in this chapter for convenience.

The exotic and alluring scents of the perfume makers have their origins in some strange places. It is unlikely that anybody seeing the Civet, a long-legged, dog-like creature, stalking through the Kenya bush would associate it with such fragrances as those of Chanel or Cardin. Yet this carnivore produces a much sought-after ingredient of the perfumer’s art.

In its raw state, deposited from an anal scent gland, this secretion is a nauseating oily substance. But blended with other ingredients into a subtle mixture of fragrance, it commands high prices and the respect of users who, no doubt, would be appalled to know the exact location of its origins. As a result of this musky secretion, however, the civet has been domesticated in Ethiopia and reared to produce this commodity.

It is the largest of the viverrid family and weighs between nine and 20 kilos. The long coarse body has a varied pattern of black spots. The civet, which is found in savannah, and sometimes dense forest, hides during the day in old burrows. It feeds on fruits ,carrion,rodent,birds,eggs,lizards,small game,frogs,slugs,snails,and insects .It has a low-pitched cough and growl.

Another species, the Palm (or Two -Spotted) Civet, spends most of its life in trees or vines and mews `like a cat.

The small-spotted (or Neumann’s) Genet is widespread through Kenya’s Savannah country. It is also found in south and west Europe, the Near East, Arabia and North Africa. Mainly solitary, it moves at night and is equally at home on the ground or in trees. So slender and flexible is the body of the genet it can follow its head through any opening.

The Large Spotted (or Bush) Genet, longer than the more common small-spotted genet, lacks a dorsal crest, has shorter fur and larger body spots. Widespread throughout Kenya, it favors woodland and forest habitats.

Genet spend their day in rock crevices, hollow trees or drowsing on a large branch. They return to the same place day after day, hunting mostly on the ground, only climbing trees to raid nests. Young are born two or three to a litter. Genet spit and growl like cats when angry or threatened. Their normal call is a clear, metallic note.

Kenya’s six or seven varieties of mongoose are pert, attractive little creatures of the under bush, tremendously brave and ferocious .Together with an innate swiftness, this makes them a match for even the swiftest of striking snakes, the cobra and mamba.

The Dwarf Mongoose, smallest of Kenya’s species, is active during the day. This friendly diminutive moves about in packs of up to 15 kinfolk, looking for grubs, insects, larvae, spiders, small rodents, reptiles, eggs and young birds as food. They attack live prey en masse, swooping down on the victims with a savage growl.

Stockily-built, with a short snout and speckled brown or reddish -brown coat, they live in dry savannah crevices, or hollow trees. Nomadic, with little concern for their own safety; they are frequently seen. They communicate with a wide vocabulary of bird-like chirrups and whistles.

Perhaps the best known of Kenya’s mongoose family, and the largest, is the Large Grey Mongoose. Greyish-brown with a long and relatively slender tail ending in a black tuft, it was revered by the ancient Egyptians as a God-like creature. Seen from a distance, when walking single file in a group, this train often looks like a giant, indulating snake.

They are found everywhere in Kenya, particularly along the edges of lakes and swamplands, woodlands, and thick bush. Widespread throughout Africa, mongooses are also found in southern Spain and Israel. They live in old aardvark burrows, crevices, or hollow trees.

Another species common throughout Kenya, from the most remote woodlands to the follow farmland of densely settled areas, the slender (Black Tipped) Mongoose is often mistaken for a ground squirrel when running. It holds its tail up straight just like that creature.

Probably the most frequently seen of all mongooses, they have coats that are a deep reddish-brown with long black-tipped tails. Active both day and night, though basically ground animals, they climb trees-feeding on rodents ,reptiles,snakes,birds,eggs,insects,larvae,and fruit. Born two to four to a litter in hollow trees or holes in the ground, these delightful animals are easily tamed and make wonderful pets.

Large, thickest, with a grey coat of shaggy hair and the white tail from which it derives its name, the White Tailed Mongoose varies its behavior according to its habitat. Basically a night animal of the ground, in some areas it moves into the trees during the day.

They are the heaviest of the mongoose, favoring almost any kind of environment from wooded areas, bush and even open plains, to locations close to water where they add mollusks and crabs to their universal diet of small animals, frogs, rodents, reptiles, and insects. When angry they communicate with a loud and threatening bark.

On medium size, with transverse dark-colored bands along its grayish-brown body, the Banded Mongoose moves around in packs of up to a dozen. Never far from water, is it found in many kinds of habitat except dense forest. Highly social, the groups often grow in size until they number between 30 and 50 gregarious and loveable creatures.

They spend much of their six-year life span in noisy packs. The strident, twittering cries of this cheerful rabble are the only clues to the origins of what, from a distance, appears to be some never-ending serpent weaving through the bush.

When threatened these delightful animal growl and spit like cats. They make wonderful pets and frequently put down snakes and other unwanted pests, detecting them with their sharp eyes, keen hearing and excellent sense of smell.

Anthony Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Filming Safaris & Flights Into Kenyan National Parks, Game Reserves & Private Sanctuaries . The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/charter-flights/filming-safaris.html

Anthony Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Filming Safaris & Flights Into Kenyan National Parks, Game Reserves & Private Sanctuaries . The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/charter-flights/filming-safaris.html

Author Bio: Anthony Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial & Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter Company that specializes on Filming Safaris & Flights Into Kenyan National Parks, Game Reserves & Private Sanctuaries . The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/charter-flights/filming-safaris.html

Category: Pets
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