Dec 13, 2008: Serval in Cellarland

[Undertoad]

More info. The beast had a collar!

http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/20...2843129594.txt

George Heim, caretaker of Garrett Mill Farm near Malvern, said Wednesday that a farm worker notified him around dinnertime Tuesday that an animal thought to be a bobcat had been locked inside the farm’s 25-bird chicken coop.

“It had lunged at him and hissed at him,” Heim told The Associated Press. “He got scared and didn’t know what to do.” The birds “were squawking bloody murder.”

Heim said he called a friend who works for the state Game Commission and was told he could shoot the animal. The Game Commission confirmed his account and said Heim was within his legal rights to protect his chickens.

Heim shot the serval dead inside the barn with a .22-caliber rifle, but his heart sank when he realized the cat was wearing a collar inscribed with a phone number. He does not know the owner’s name and the game commission did not release it. “I was sad for the animal, then I was angry at the people for allowing it to be out,” Heim said.

Heim said authorities told him they had already been informed that the serval was loose for about the past six weeks.