Meerkat

Safety in numbers: A “kat” is not a “cat” when it’s a meerkat, a vital, clever, and amazing weasel-like animal that is a member of the mongoose family. Most people know meerkats from the character Timon in The Lion King animated movie. However, instead of spending all their time with a warthog, most meerkats live in underground burrows in large groups of up to 40 individuals called a gang or a mob. For meerkats, there isn’t just safety in numbers—there’s also companionship. The mob is made up of several family groups, with one dominant pair that produces most of the offspring. But meerkats don’t have to be related to belong to the same group. Meerkat mobs spend a lot of their time grooming and playing together to keep the family as a tight unit. This existence helps meerkats survive.

Although they are excellent diggers, meerkats usually live in burrows dug by other wildlife, such as ground squirrels. These burrows have an average of 15 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. A meerkat mob has several burrow systems, complete with toilet and sleeping chambers, within its territory and moves from one to another every few months.

Meerkats have scent pouches below their tails and rub these pouches on rocks and plants to mark their territory. The territories of different meerkat mobs often overlap, resulting in constant disputes. When the two groups meet for a face-off, the results can be tragic. Meerkats are aggressive fighters that often kill each other in these skirmishes. Knowing the high cost of an all-out war, they try to avoid serious conflict if possible. Usually, a lot of aggressive posturing and bluffing precedes any physical contact. These wars can look a bit like the human battles of yesteryear: both sides line up across a field and, at the same moment, charge forward with leaps and bounds, holding their tail rigid and straight up in the air. Every third or fourth leap, they arch their back and thrust their rear legs backward like a bucking bronco. Whichever side has the most threatening display in their charge may “psych out” the opponents. Yet meerkats mobs have been known to accept outside individuals into their mob, and they sometimes share their burrows with yellow mongooses Cynictis penicillata.

Unfortunately for meerkats, they are a tasty treat for larger carnivores, especially jackals, eagles, and falcons. However, meerkats have developed a way to forage in relative safety: adults take turns acting as guard while the others can look for food without worries. The guard climbs to the highest rock, termite mound, or bush he or she can find, stands upright on two legs, and then announces the beginning of guard duty with a specialized call. It makes a low, constant peeping, known as the "watchman's song," when all is well. 

If a predator is spotted, the guard alerts the others with a bark or whistle. There are different calls for land predators and for those coming from the air. When the alarm is raised, the meerkats usually run for the nearest hole, called a bolt hole. These are tunnels with wider openings designed to hold a crowd of meerkats at once. Meerkats memorize the locations of thousands of bolt holes within their territory and are able to run to the closest one at a moment's notice. A meerkat mob sometimes stirs up dust to create a cover, or the mob may stand together to look larger, acting fierce to discourage a predator.

Meerkats have been known to kill venomous snakes, but they don’t accomplish this task alone—they work as a mob. Some snakes feed on meerkats and slither into their underground tunnels, looking for a warm meal. Because of this, meerkats do not tolerate any snakes in their midst. They attack simultaneously and bite the snake wherever possible. It doesn’t take long for the snake to tire and become overwhelmed by the unrelenting gang. These meerkats mobs have been known to chase off many would-be predators much bigger than themselves.

Meerkats are diurnal: once the sun is up, they carefully emerge from their burrow and spend some time sunbathing and grooming. Meerkats have thin fur and dark skin on their stomachs that helps them control body temperature. They can lie on their backs and get quickly warmed by the sun or lie stomach down on a cool rock in the heat of midday. Once warmed up and ready to go, the meerkats forage for most of the day, perhaps stopping in the shade or a burrow during the hottest hours. Then they return to the main burrow to snuggle up for the night.