Meerkats in the Deserts Dome

And precisely what are meerkats? Meerkats are probably best known as the model for Timon, the slight of build and slightly snarky pal to Pumbaa the warthog in Disney's "The Lion King." Meerkats are small mammals closely related to mongooses, and these diminutive charmers are native to the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.  Although they sit up on their hind legs like prairie dogs they are not at all related to them. They are carnivores eating small insects, arachnids, other invertebrates, small mammals, reptiles, birds, along with tubers and roots.  Meerkats have a phenomenal sense of smell which they use to locate prey. They then use very long claws to dig the prey out. Their pointed snout can be pushed into the ground to catch small invertebrates, larve and other food items. Another unusual feature is that they are apparently immune to the venom of scorpions, which they eat on a regular basis. 

Meerkats are also very social animals. Normally 5 to 30 animals will live together in a “mob.” Meerkats live in grass-lined burrows underground that they will share with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses. However, meerkats are not friendly with other meerkats. They are very territorial about their home range – which can include five different warrens with up to 15 entrances. Because they are relatively small (about 12” tall) they have many predators. To protect themselves they always have one or more individuals standing guard at the burrow entrance to sound an alarm if danger approaches. Meerkats even have different alarm calls to indicate different predators. Meerkats are diurnal, coming out after sunrise to sunbath and groom each other before starting to look for food. Even while foraging, one individual will continue to act as a sentinel perched on a high spot of land or in a bush or tree constantly searching the surrounding areas for predators. Meerkats will also band together in a large hissing, stiff-jumping group to scare off larger predators such as jackals or to intimidate rival clans of meerkats.