Meerkat

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Meerkats

By Any Other Name: The meerkat, also called the slender-tailed meerkat or suricate, is the only species in its genus Suricata. A small mongoose, it lives in large social colonies made up of several family units. It is often found in association with other mongoose species, as well as squirrels and various other rodents.

A Vast Repertoire: It has many chatterlike calls in its repertoire. During the night, it shelters in a multichambered burrow; in the daytime, it basks in the sun near the entrance or goes foraging for insects, small mammals, reptiles, birds and their eggs, fruit, and vegetation.

Always on Alert: It has highly developed senses of smell, vision, and hearing, and may sometimes be seen standing up on its hind legs, alert to danger. When a meerkat spots a predator, it will sound an alarm call to warn the others of the colony.

DID YOU KNOW?

Built-In Ear Muffs: Native to the Kalahari Desert, meerkats have unique flaps of skin around their ears to keep sand out while digging.

The "Sun Angel": Some Africans call the meerkat the "sun angel," believing it protects their villages, stray cattle and lone tribesmen from the "moon devil," or werewolf.

Wiping Poison Away: Meerkats rub millipedes in the sand before eating them. Doing so removes the toxins from the insects' skin.

Stomach Solar Panel: The meerkat has a relatively bare patch of black skin on its belly. It exposes this patch to the sun, typically in the morning, in order to absorb heat and warm up.

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The Meerkat

Meerkat Profile
These gregarious animals are often seen in groups, and several families may live together in a large community. Squirrel-sized meerkats are mongooses famed for their upright posture. They often stand on their rear legs and gaze alertly over the southern African plains where they live. Mothers can even nurse their young while standing.

Meerkats (also called suricates) work together in numbers. A few will typically serve as lookouts, watching the skies for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles, that can snatch them from the ground. A sharp, shrill call is the signal for all to take cover. While a few individuals guard the group, the rest busy themselves foraging for the foods that make up their varied diet. Meerkats will eat insects, lizards, birds, and fruit. When hunting small game, they work together and communicate with purring sounds. Meerkats are good hunters and are sometimes tamed for use as rodent-catchers.

Meerkat groups utilize several different burrows and move from one to another. Each burrow is an extensive tunnel-and-room system that remains cool even under the broiling African sun. Females give birth to two to four young each year in one of the group's burrows. Fathers and siblings help to raise meerkat young, teaching them to play and forage and alerting them to the ever-present danger from above. Young meerkats are so fearful of predatory birds that even airplanes will send them diving for cover.

Meerkat Range (In the yellow)

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Size: Head and body, 9.75 to 11.75 in (25 to 30 cm); Tail, 7.5 to 9.5 in (19 to 24 cm)
Weight: Less than 2.2 lbs (1 kg)

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man

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Credit:

Information © AnimalPlanet.com
Information & Pictures © NationalGeographic.com