About meerkats:   Mongoose family    Meerkats in detail    Social hierarchy

Introduction
Meerkats are small mammals that weigh around a kilogram and measure around 35cm without their tail. They live in colonies of up to 40 individuals, mostly in the Kalahari desert.


Claws

Their claws are long and curved – perfect for digging through the hard, sandy soil. Though meerkats belong to the civet family, a group of catlike mammals, they can’t retract their claws like cats can. Their front claws are used for digging and the back claws are used for climbing.



Tail

While other mongoose tails are thick and bushy, the meerkat has a slender tail that tapers to a point. The meerkats use their tails for balance when they are standing upright.

The dark tip on the end of the tail allow the meerkats to identify each other while they are foraging.


Eyes

The black masks around the eyes act like sunglasses and reduce the glare from the sun. This means a meerkat can look straight into the sun and spot birds of prey. Meerkats have a membrane between their eyelid and their eye which removes sand when they blink.




Ears

When digging through the sandy soil, meerkats have the handy ability to close their ears so the sand doesn’t get inside!






Belly

The belly of the meerkat doesn’t have much hair covering the dark skin underneath. The meerkat uses this area to absorb heat on cold mornings.






Fur

The colour of meerkat fur depends on where they live. Those near riverbeds will have the tan colour of the sand, while those on the dunes will have a reddish coat. The fur keeps them warm during the cold winter and also stops them from overheating.




Food

Meerkats are carnivorous and eat worms, crickets, grasshoppers, lizards, birds, eggs, ant larvae, and poisonous scorpions! To eat scorpions, meerkats drag them across the sand to get rid of chemical defences, bite off the stingers then eat the rest.

Meerkats do not need to drink. They get all the water they need from the food they eat.