The Kat that isn’t a Cat at all
What kind of a wild animal can live in the Kalahari desert and snack on poisonous scorpions like they’re popcorn? That could only be the meerkat. The meerkat looks like a tall skinny version of the American prairie dog, only with some kind of rodent eyeliner around the eyes.
Meerkats like to sun themselves when they get up in the morning. They do this by standing up and soaking in the suns rays to warm themselves. They can either do this awake or asleep with their eyes closed.
Meerkats believe everybody should have a job. In their colony there is one male and one female that act as the mother and father of the group. Meerkats are team players and cooperate to take care of one another. The young are watched by a host of babysitters. The older ones also take turns on guard duty.
If they see an enemy approaching or sense danger in any form the sentry will call out to the others and everyone will scurry into their underground den. The meerkats den is usually about 10 feet beneath the surface of the earth. They can dig one themselves, however, many meerkat groups will simply move into an African ground squirrel’s den, do a little remodeling and then live there.
These mammals are born blind and hairless. They nurse for about a week. And then after three weeks inside the nest they make their way outside the den.
To encourage her pups to try different foods the mother meerkat runs circles around her babies and teases them with food. They seem to like the game of ‘keep-away’ and soon learn to like the new foods she pretends to try to keep from them. In this fashion the young learn to eat insects, spiders, snails, rodents, birds, bird eggs, bulbs, roots, plants, lizards, and yes… even scorpions.
So how can these little bitty creatures chew on something that could sting a full grown man and kill him?
Well, let’s do a little reenactment of this scenario. Say you’ve got this scorpion sneaking across the Kalahari. He’s thinking, “Sting em, eat em.”
The meerkat senses danger, a threat to the colony. So it proceeds to the aggressor. Just then the scorpion raises its poisonous tail. The meerkat doesn’t even seem the least bit threatened by the venomous arsenal waving in its face. Instead it suddenly snatches the scorpion with its front paws and bites off the stinger. It is then the meerkat who dines on the aggressor instead.
But wait a minute. That still doesn’t explain just how it is that the meerkat can chomp into a venomous stinger and then eat a venomous arachnid. Why doesn’t it die from the poison?
Here’s how our little friend does this. In the first place it dispatched the venom syringe device the scorpion uses to administer lethal doses of neurotoxins. But what about the neurotoxins still oozing out the stinger stub? Well, the meerkat tugs the wounded animal through the sand with the stinger stub dragging trough the sand. This wipes the toxin off the ‘soon to be supper’ and the meerkat can either eat the ‘would be threat’ or give it to one of the younger pups to begin teaching them a little bit about survival in this harsh environment.
The sentries surrounding the meerkat encampment constantly give off a low whistle to signal that all is well. When they wish to notify the others that danger is near they will give a shrill whistle or a bark. Once they do this the whole colony will dive down into the nearest bolt hole. The bolt hole is much larger and can accompany several meerkats diving into it at once. Within each colony’s territory there are thousands of bolt holes. The meerkat memorizes them all and always knows which one is closest. In the event one of these animals needs to do some quick tunneling it can move its weight in sand in a matter of seconds.
To ward off some predators meerkats try several tactics. The whole colony will throw dirt into the air to distract the intruders with a cloud of dust. They will also jump in the air and stretch out their 20 ” body from head to tail. They try to look fiercer than the 21 pound mongoose they really are. If the intruder persists the meerkats will act as one animal and surround the enemy or enemies. How wonderful that these animals were created to protect themselves in this way. What an amazing animal!
Think it Through- What are some of the ways you find protection? Could it be that the meerkat’s behavior proves there really is safety in numbers?
Resources:
Animal Planet Meerkat Website- animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/meerkat.html
Meerkat Manor, Animal Planet, Meerkat Manor – 1st Season (dvd/Ff/2 Disc) Genius Products, Inc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat
Jackson, Tom, Meerkats, Grolier Educational Publishing, Danbury CT, 2001.
Clutton-Brock, Tim, Tall Stand, ‘National Geographic’, September 2002, pp. 52-73.
