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Meerkat

Suricata Suricatta

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• RANGE: Africa: Angola to South Africa

• HABITAT: Open sandy country  with savanna bush

• SIZE: Body 10 - 12 inches (tail 8-10 inches)

• DIET: Insects including ants and centipedes even scorpions found by smell and dug out

• NOTES: Live in cool burrows. Burrow mounds provide sentry lookout advantages combined with ability to stand upright on hind legs. Sunworshippers. Communicate with chirps. Pairs stay together for life. Several litters a year. Hierarchical family structure. Curious. Predators include snakes and eagles and hawks. Immunity to some snake bites. The dark eye markings act like built-in sunglasses.

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© Lisa Konrad (thanks to www.animation.arthouse.org)

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