THE BUSHY-TAILED OR ROOT MEERKAT 



a shallow hole in the soil and lays one or more eggs 

 therein. The hole is then filled with the loose dirt, 

 and after moistening it with a urinary secretion it is 

 stamped down hard. The Bushy-tailed Meerkat, 

 guided by the peculiar odour of this secretion, finds 

 the spot, digs up the eggs, and makes a meal of 

 them. The young tortoises also fall victims, for 

 at this time their shell or carapace is not sufficiently 

 hard and strong to withstand the teeth of the 

 meerkat. The eggs of snakes are sought out and 

 devoured, and this bold little animal does not 

 hesitate to even attack venomous snakes. 



Termites or " White Ants " are eagerly eaten by 

 this meerkat. A small piece of the mound is scraped 

 off, and when the little inhabitants swarm out, they 

 are licked up. I came across a pair of meerkats 

 one day busy devouring the " flying ants " as they 

 emerged from the ground. These flying ants are 

 fertile male and female termites which, at certain 

 seasons, hatch out in the nest, develop wings, and 

 fly off to establish new homes. 



When these flying ants begin to take wing, the 

 birds of the air, the animals of the plains, the 

 reptiles, and the carnivorous species of insects 

 issue forth and feast upon them. If this slaughter 

 did not occur these termites would swarm over 

 the land and render the greater part of it unin- 

 habitable by man. 



In the neighbourhood of farms the Bushy-tailed 

 Meerkat often proves a pest owing to its fondness 

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