Back at the burrow, several babysitters stay behind to watch over newborn pups. This duty rotates to different members of the mob, and a sitter will often go all day without food. While the rest of the mob forages for food, one of the meerkats or sometimes more , called a sentry , will find a high point, like a termite mound, and perch on its back legs. From here it scans the sky and desert for predators such as eagles, hawks and jackals.
A sentry who senses danger will let out a high-pitched squeal, sending the mob scrambling for cover. Meerkats dig safe places called bolt holes throughout their foraging area, where they can hide in an emergency. But if caught in the open by a predator, a meerkat will try to look fierce, lying on its back and showing its teeth and claws.
If a group is confronted, the meerkats will stand together, arching their backs, raising their hair and hissing. This sometimes fools an attacker into thinking they are a single large, vicious animal. Meerkats are abundant throughout their range and are not considered threatened or endangered.
But they live a very difficult life in the African desert, constantly threatened by hungry predators, rival meerkats, drought and burrow-flooding rainstorms. 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. Meerkats are adapted for digging and have a membrane that can cover the eye to protect it while burrowing. These small diggers also have ears that close to keep out the sand while at work.
In addition, meerkats have four toes most mongoose species have five on each foot and very long, nonretractable claws to help them dig. No prey is safe from meerkats! With their excellent sense of smell, they can even find their food when it is hiding underground. Meerkats can dig very quickly to find insects the biggest part of their diet , spiders, snails, rodents, birds, eggs, lizards, and scorpions. They have a home territory of about 4 square miles 10 square kilometers or more and hunt in a different section each day, returning to the first area after about a week.
Each meerkat must find its own food, but they may share the task of capturing and eating a large lizard or other large food item. Mom's in charge: Meerkats have a matriarchal society, with adult females generally slightly larger than males. The dominant female can have several litters a year, but usually she has babies, called pups, during times when there is plenty of food, which is generally during the rainy season November through March. Pups are born with eyes and ears shut and are mostly hairless at birth.
Their eyes open after two weeks, and pups start eating food other than milk at three weeks. When they are four weeks old, the pups first venture out of their den. They are weaned by nine weeks. Young meerkats do not know what kind of food to eat, so their mother or another adult teaches them. Mom brings home whole food such as an insect or lizard and leaps around in front of the pups until they take the food from her mouth.
She even brings home scorpions with their tails bitten off, so the young can learn how to kill them without getting hurt. In addition to taking turns as guard, meerkats also share the duty of raising the pups and teaching them how to hide, hunt, clean, and defend all that is theirs.
The mother needs to spend time foraging to supply her pups with milk, so other females and males stay behind to care for and protect her young. The mob may sometimes decide to move to a different burrow, and these "babysitters" help transport the pups, carrying them by the scruff of the neck.
The pups spend most of their time playing, and both pups and adults are very vocal. They make a peeping sound when playing, which rises to a louder twitter when they are excited, and purr when content. The more babysitters there are in a mob, the greater the survival rate for the pups. Meet the people trying to help. Environment COP26 nears conclusion with mixed signals and frustration. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment As the EU targets emissions cuts, this country has a coal problem.
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