Essay On Meerkat

940 Words2 Pages

Did you know, a single meerkat is capable of killing a cobra? A cobra is at least 3 times bigger and poisonous! So how is this possible? A meerkat is so quick it is able to dodge any attacks the cobra may make and kill it with its three inch claws. So what is a meerkat? A meerkat is a unique mongoose with a diverse diet that lives in the desert where it is picky about reproduction and has many enemies that it gets help fighting from its other mongoose relatives.
By now, you’re probably wondering what a meerkat looks like. It is covered in fur like a cat or dog. It is about two feet tall, not including its 10 inch tail. It has a very strong tail that it uses almost like a kickstand when it is standing on its hind legs, which it does quite often. It has razor sharp three inch long claws that it uses to dig small holes to look for food. So what does it eat?
A meerkat has a preys diet of desert grasses, almost any type of insects, and once in a while a scorpion. Meerkats have a pretty cool way of hunting, they get in a line with three to ninety meters between each animal depending on food scarcity and just run the desert digging in the sand with their sharp claws and occasionally finding a tasty beetle. Usually the best fed animals will have one of two jobs. The first option is to be a babysitter and take care of the pups back at the burrow while the rest are off hunting, and the second option is to be a sentry calling out if any enemies are approaching. These jobs usually only go to the best fed meerkats because it is hard to find food in the habitat they live in and if an animal that wasn’t fed very well was sentry and didn’t get anything to eat, they would probably die.
They live in the hot African desert mainly in the Kalahari ...

... middle of paper ...

...kat as you may have noticed by now is not actually a cat. It is a member of the mongoose family. All mongooses are almost the same, the only main difference is where they live and how they have adapted to that environment. The main types of mongooses are: the mongoose, the weasle, the squirrel, and civets and genets. Mongooses live in Asia, Africa, and Europe, Mongooses are also much bigger than a meerkat, but not as smart. Weasels live all over the world except in islands and polar regions. Weasels are a little bit smaller than meerkats, but much more vulnerable. They dont have burrow systems, sharp claws, live in groups or any of the smarts of a meerkat. Squirrels can range from one-seventh of the weight of a meerkat to seven times bigger than a meerkat depending on the breed. They live in almost every continent except antarctica, and nest in woodlands or plains.

More about Essay On Meerkat

Open Document