Meerkats
A meerkat is not a “cat”. It belongs to the mongoose family.
Photo from Pexels is in the public domain.
A slender mongoose
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Meerkats live in the hot desert in Africa.
Meerkats have long claws. The claws help them to dig.
Meerkats are good diggers. They dig tunnels under the ground. The tunnels are their homes. A meerkat's home is called a burrow.
Image generated by AI 06/03/24 via Dall-E 3.
They also dig to find food such as insects.
Meerkats eat spiders, frogs, snails, eggs, and lizards too.
A frog makes a good meal.
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A lizard
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Lots of meerkats live together. Meerkats spend a lot of their time grooming and playing together.
Photo from Pexels is in the public domain.
They look after the baby meerkats. Baby meerkats are called pups.
By Charles J Sharp (own work). Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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Meerkats take turns being guards while the others look for food. The guard climbs to the top of the highest rock it can find. Then it stands on two legs to get a good look around. The guard's job is to look out for jackals or eagles. They want to eat meerkats. |
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If the guard spots danger, it barks or whistles to the others. When the other meerkats hear the guard's call, they dash back into their homes.
A jackal © Hans Hillewaert. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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An eagle |
Fantastic fact
Meerkats have a super power! They can eat snakes and scorpions without getting hurt.
Meerkats have a super power! They can eat snakes and scorpions without getting hurt.
These animals can be venomous. This means that if they sting or bite you, they put a poison into your blood. The poison can kill you. |
The end of this scorpion's tail can sting and kill you.
Scorpions do not live in England. Phew!