A serval named Cassia that escaped from her Brentwood Bay home on Wednesday morning was captured Friday afternoon and is back at home relaxing with her relieved owners. “I melted. I blubbered,” said Sylvia Lammers, owner of the African wild cat.
A camera set up by ROAM — Reuniting Owners with Animals Missing — after neighbourhood sightings showed the cat near her crate at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
Lammers and husband Don were in the neighbourhood putting up posters when they spied Cassia about 12:30 p.m. Friday.
Don ran home to get her crate, prawns — her favourite food — and special toys. But the cat wasn’t interested, said Lammers, who remained near the cat. “She’s winking at me.”
The serval moved off a porch and to a path with dirt and leaves. Lammers talked quietly to the cat and tossed her shrimp, moving the crate to about three metres from Cassia.
“She did not move from her spot in the sun.”
Finally Lammers moved closer. Cassia licked her hand but didn’t want an offered prawn.
“I didn’t want to grab her and spook her because I wouldn’t have been able to hold her and she would have been on the run.
“So I knew I had to play it cool.”
Lammers slowly walked up behind the cat and “she trotted into her crate.” Cassia was familiar with the crate and knew that it was a safe zone.
Once home, “she drank a gallon of water and is happy as a lark.”
It turns out the serval had been lounging on the patio of a nearby house, where no one was home.
“She is very much just a typical cat. They have their own agenda and it’s on their terms and their time,” said Lammers, who praised ROAM for putting out traps, setting up cameras and offering advice. “They were amazing.”
Cassia is one of three serval cats to have escaped on Vancouver Island this week. The other two are from an area north of Qualicum Beach.
One of those two was captured while a pregnant female remains at large.
Servals are larger than a domestic cat and can weigh up to 40 pounds. Lammers said three-year-old Cassia is about 15 to 20 pounds.
There is no restriction on owning a serval in B.C.
Cassia lives inside the house with her owners and has an attached enclosure. The cat had taught herself to move the lever on the backdoor to open it and escape.
