THICK-TAILED MONGOOSE 63 



Genus CYNICTUS. 



No naked line from nose to lip. Five toes on the fore 

 and four on the hind feet. Tarsus hairy. 



Cynictus penicillata. Thick-tailed Mongoose. Geel Mierkat 

 (Yellow Meercat of the colonials.) 



Colour yellowish, darker in some, paler in other indi- 

 viduals. The tail is bushy and has a white tip. Length 

 of head and body, 15 inches ; tail, 9 inches. 



The Yellow Mierkat is found in the Eastern Cape 

 Colony, ranging as far north as Lake Ngami and 

 Southern Rhodesia. It is very common in the Orange 

 Free State, where the writer met with it in the Bloem- 

 fontein and Kroonstad districts, and in the Central 

 Transvaal about Johannesburg and Pretoria. I have 

 also come across them at Serowe in Bechuanaland, and 

 at Volksrust in the South-Eastern Transvaal. 



They live in small colonies or family parties, construct- 

 ing burrows on the veld, at the edges of which they may 

 often be seen sitting up on their hind legs and looking 

 inquisitively round them, ready to pop into their holes 

 upon the approach of an intruder. I have often noticed 

 in the Orange Free State that they live cheek by jowl 

 with the Ground Squirrel, both species inhabiting 

 burrows in close proximity to one another. They are 

 fairly fast runners, and are adepts at the art of doubling ; 

 hence it is not such an easy matter to catch them with 

 a dog as is popularly supposed. They live on insects, 

 small rodents, and birds which they stalk in the grass 

 after the manner of a cat. Birds' eggs are also a 

 favourite article of diet. 



Although I have seen very tame individuals, it does 

 not become anything like the tame confiding pet the 



