I
had a feeling you were going to ask this question. The Meerkat is one
of the most social animals on Earth. The meerkat has many diffeent
names for different purposes. The scientific name for a meerkat is Suricate. An adult meerkat stands
at about
1ft tall and is about 3lbs. Meerkats live in groups called Mobs. These
Mobs usually hold 12-30 members. Mobs are controlled by the dominant
female, which is usually the oldest and strongest female in the group.
Daily Life of a
Meerkat
Foraging
Foraging
The daily life of a meerkat starts at the crack of dawn. The Dominant
female leads the mob out to forage for food. A Meerkat's diet contains
scorpions, spiders, insects, small mammals, plants, and eggs.
Meerkats need to eat everyday because they are unable to store excess
body fat. Because the meerkat has many predators, a sentry stands guard
for at least 20 minutes to make sure it is safe to forage. If the
sentry spots danger, he or she will make a warning bark to warn the
rest of the group.
Behavior
Meerkats
are very social animals. To strengthen family bonds, they groom each
other very frequently. The dominant pair usually scent-marks the
subordinates often to express their authority. To respect the alpha
pair, the subordinates usually groom the alpha male and female. During
foraging, a
sentry stands guard while the rest of the group is play fighting or
foraging.
If a predator is spotted, a warning bark is called and the family runs
to any bolt holes in the area. The sentry is usually first up to check
if the danger has passed. If it has, then the sentry will stop barking.
The young adults in the group are responsible for babysitting the pups
of the Dominant Female. Females that have not produced any offspring
are able to give milk to the pups. Usually the babysitters will risk
their own lives for the pups if any danger comes to the burrow.
Meerkats become reproductive at at about 10 months old. Usually
the dominant pair reserve the right to mate and will not allow any of
the group females to mate. If a female mates with a roving male,
the dominant female will take matters into her own hands, and evict the
female from the group until she decides to let her back in. The males
of the group are allowed to go roving anytime they wish, unless the
group needs them for a purpose such as fights with rival meerkat mobs
and other dangers. Meerkats are also known to share their burrow with
ground squirrels and the yellow mongoose.