CHAPTER VIII. 



MEERKATS. 



Meerkats plentirul in the Karroo — Their appearance — Intelligence — 

 Fearlessness — Friendship for dogs — A meerkat in England — 

 Meerkat an inveterate thief — An owl in Tangier — ^Taming full- 

 grown meerkat — Tiny twins — A sad accident — Different characters 

 of meerkats — The turkey-herd— Bob and the meerkat — "The 

 Mouse." 



The little meerkats were surely created for the express 

 purpose of being made into, pet animals. Certainly no 

 prettier or funnier little live toys could possibly be 

 imao-ined. Nearly every homestead in the Karroo has 

 its tame meerkat, or more likely two or three, all as 

 much petted and indulged, and requiring as much 

 looking after, as spoilt and mischievous children. In 

 their wild state, these little creatures are gregarious, 

 and live, like the prairie-dogs and biscachas of the 

 Western Continent, in deep holes underground, feed- 

 in<r chiefly on succulent bulbs, which they scratch 

 up with the long, curved, black claws on their 

 fore-feet. They are devoted sun- worshippers ; and 

 in the early morning, before it is daylight, they 

 emerge from their burrows, and wait in rows till their 

 divinity appears, when they bask joyfully in his beams. 



