THE BUSHY-TAILED OR ROOI 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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