Cute, cuddly, messy – all the words you think mean meerkats, but they’re actually myths. There’s a lot that you may not know about one of the stars of The Lion King, but we’re here to change that.
Venom Cannot Stop Them
Meerkats can handle bites from some species of poisonous snakes. Biologists have discovered that meerkats are immune to the venom of some snakes because they belong to the mongoose family. In some parts of the world, people value mongooses as house guards because they can fight off deadly snakes like cobras. If they are bitten, they may become sick but will fully recover.
They’re Dangerous Predators
Meerkats may look cute, but their lives are dangerous. They developed a technique to treat the venom found in the scorpions they eat. When a scorpion spots a meerkat, it immediately moves in for the kill. The scorpion may have realized that a meerkat was nearby, but the meerkat easily grabs the arachnid so that it can’t attack.
How you may ask?
First, the meerkat zero on the tail bites the stinger of the scorpion and throws it away. Without a tail, a scorpion cannot strike to release its venom. The claws may cause an unpleasant sting, but that’s about it. However, there is poison in its exoskeleton. To prevent this, meerkats learned to rub the scorpions with sand to remove the remaining venom. Lunch is served!
Meerkats Are Highly Intelligent
Meerkats are smarter than they seem. Although they won’t quite be clever enough to play at Canadian slot casino sites. A recent study at St Andrews University in Scotland found that meerkats use complex coordinated behaviours that rival those of chimpanzees, baboons, dolphins, and even humans. They were able to solve the tasks with the help of a crowd but also with a little independent thinking.
The study found that meerkats engaged in a variety of social and social behaviours to solve tasks. In general, social factors helped attract meerkats to a task, while social processes helped them solve the task.
Meerkats Are Omnivores!
You might be surprised to learn that meerkats are omnivores – they eat fruits and vegetables just like animals. Unlike humans, they do not have excess stores of body fat, so eating is a constant activity. Their food usually consists of insects, which they sniff out with their enhanced sense of smell. They also eat small rodents, fruits, birds, eggs, lizards, and even poisonous scorpions and snakes.
They Don’t Drink Water
Despite living in the desert, it’s incredible that meerkats don’t need extra water in their diet. They get all the moisture they need from the insects and fungi they eat.
Meerkats Live In All Types Of Deserts
Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, large parts of the Namibian Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and South Africa.
They Have Good Eyes
They can see birds miles away on the horizon! Vision is their most developed sense. They have black spots on their eyes that limit the sun’s glare and help them see far into the distance. Long horizontal pupils give meerkats a wide field of vision without turning their heads. Meerkats are built for digging and have a membrane over their eyes to protect them while digging.
