Meerkats
A meerkat is not a “cat”. It belongs to the mongoose family. |
A slender mongoose
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Meerkats live in the hot desert in Africa. |
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
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They live in big groups of up to 40 meerkats. The group is called a gang or a mob. Meerkat mobs spend a lot of their time grooming and playing together to keep the family close together. This closeness helps the meerkats survive. |
Adult meerkats take turns acting as guards while the others look for food. The guard climbs to the top of the highest rock, termite mound, or bush it can find. Then it stands upright on two legs to get a good look around. |
If the guard spots danger (such as a jackal, falcon or eagle), it alerts the others with a bark or whistle. When they hear the guard's call, the other meerkats all dash back into their burrows. |
A jackal © Hans Hillewaert. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
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An eagle |
Meerkats are excellent diggers. They have very long claws to help them dig. They dig burrows underground to live, and they dig to uncover food.
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They have a special clear covering over their eyes to protect them from dirt and rocks while they are burrowing. They also have very special ears that they can close to keep out soil when digging.
Their burrows have lots of entrance and exit holes, with tunnels and chambers at several levels, some as deep as 6.5 feet (2 meters). The deeper tunnels stay at a constant, comfortable temperature, whether it's hot or cold outside. |
Meerkats like to eat small animals. They eat insects, spiders, frogs, snails, eggs, and lizards. |
A frog makes a good meal.
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A lizard
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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.