THE BUSHY-TAILED OR ROOI MEERKAT 



more individuals on the karoo. On the site of 

 their home the ground is often honeycombed with 

 their burrows. When seeking food they scatter in 

 all directions, and, when alarmed, race back and 

 disappear with the greatest of haste down their 

 burrows. Presently sharp noses may be observed 

 protruding from the burrow entrances, followed by 

 the heads, and the meerkats make a careful survey 

 of their surroundings and listen intently for some 

 time before again venturing forth. 



The burrows are usually found in mounds of 

 comparatively loose earth, and at other times on 

 gentle slopes, as the meerkat is always careful to 

 construct its burrow in such a way as to prevent 

 flooding by rain-water. 



At Addo, which is in the Uitenhage Division of 

 the Cape Province, and about forty-five miles from 

 Port Elizabeth, there is a large colony of these 

 meerkats on the karoo veld, which numbers at 

 least fifty individuals. The burrows enter the 

 earth at an angle, and near each hole is a mound 

 composed of the earth scraped out in excavating 

 the hole. The number of individuals is determined 

 by the food supply, and the degree of security or 

 otherwise from enemies. When food is scarce they 

 scatter and roam away in pairs until they find some 

 locality abounding in insect and rodent life. 



They have the same habit as that of the Ground 

 Squirrel of sitting upright on their haunches and 

 surveying their surroundings for evidences of the 

 VOL. ii 49 4 



