NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



has strayed, all that is needed is to seek out the 

 exposed places where the sun is beaming down upon 

 the ground, and on one or other of them you will 

 find the little fellow basking as usual. When the 

 sun sets it races off, seeks out the kitchen stove, 

 sits up before it, and, spreading out its limbs, 

 toasts itself. 



The antics and comical ways of captive meerkats 

 provide an everlasting source of amusement and 

 conversation for the members of the household. 

 The little fellow is always cheerful, brisk, affec- 

 tionate, and good-tempered. It is never advisable, 

 however, to give tame meerkats their liberty, 

 unless they are kept under supervision or in a 

 closed yard, for they are apt to stray away and get 

 lost. In captivity the meerkat will eat anything 

 of an edible nature. Any of the kinds of food 

 partaken of by its owners it will eat. It loves to 

 dig out worms and the larvae of beetles, moths, 

 &c., for itself. Its sense of sm.ell is so acute that 

 it can instantly detect the presence of any living 

 creature, or a bulb underground. 



When annoyed the meerkat barks sharply and 

 shrilly, very much like a young terrier dog. In 

 the wild state the alarm is given by a series of 

 sharp barks, whereupon all within hearing scuttle 

 off to their burrows and take refuge therein. 

 Presently little noses may be seen popping up, 

 then a head, and the meerkat looks rapidly around. 

 If the cause for alarm has vanished, they are out 



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