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 
