章 186: Chapter 752: Meerkat Sentry
The Meerkat Exhibit!
Meerkats themselves are quite interesting-looking, with their comical black eye circles. Plus, being featured as Timon in "The Lion King" animated film, they are popular animals, attracting many visitors.
The exhibit isn't large, as meerkats are small, but the environment is quite rich.
The activity area is covered with a thick layer of fine sand, with uneven terrain and some low, dried-out trees, giving it a desert-like atmosphere!
In the center of the exhibit is a high sand dune—perfectly positioned so that visitors can make eye contact with the meerkats.
You can see some entrance and exit holes on the sand dune, which are not dug by the meerkats but are artificial tunnels. This prevents them from collapsing and burying the meerkats, providing them with hiding spots.
There are also toy balls and cardboard boxes for the meerkats to explore.
At this moment, a meerkat is standing on the highest point of the sand dune, on its tiptoes, with its paws tucked into its chest. It turns its head left and right, vigilantly watching the surroundings, serving as a lookout for the group.
Other meerkats are also on lookout at higher vantage points, looking around or occasionally glancing at the sky, calling out with "gugu" sounds.
Meerkats can breed year-round. After arriving at the new environment of the zoo, they adapted quickly and soon had offspring.
Adult meerkats have slender bodies, with sharp triangular heads and bright, intelligent eyes. The young meerkats, about five to six weeks old, are short and round, looking like fluffy little kiwis.
"Hey, Timon, is that you?"
"So cute!"
"Such tiny little things!"
"Those dark circles, they must have stayed up all night!"
Fang Ye explained, "The meerkats' dark circles help reduce the glare of the intense African sunlight, aiding them in spotting aerial predators.
Their terrestrial predators are jackals and cobras, while their aerial predators are eagles and hawks!
They can drive away land predators with growling, war dances, and harassment, but for aerial predators, they can only hide in burrows, which is why you often see meerkats looking up at the sky.
They have excellent vision and can spot birds of prey from a kilometer away, allowing them to hide in advance."
The keeper had hidden some insects in the sand, and the young meerkats were digging around, searching for food.
The outside world is new to them, and using new skills is quite fun.
Some young meerkats wanted to show off their newly learned skills to their parents, scratching their tails with their little paws while the parents were on lookout.
However, the parents, busy with their sentinel duties, ignored the little ones.
Compared to the young ones, adult meerkats dig much faster, their paws flying as they fling sand backward, quickly creating a large hole.
They dig in the sand, search for food, keep watch, or bask in the sun!
Some meerkats groom each other while resting together.
Meerkats are social animals with a strong sense of community and deep bonds with each other.
Just then, the meerkat sentry on the sand dune seemed to have spotted something.
It suddenly let out a loud, short warning bark, similar to a dog's!
"Woof!"
Turning its head, it barked again!
This meerkat seemed to hold a high position in the group, and with its two barks, the other meerkats scattered like birds and beasts.
It was like students playing truant in an internet café suddenly hearing someone shout "The teacher is coming!"
Some meerkats jumped up and hid in the crevices between rocks, leaving only the tops of their heads visible. Others darted into burrows or hid in nearby cardboard boxes.
They fled with incredible speed, kicking up a cloud of dust like ninjas using earth escape techniques!
Adult meerkats reacted quickly, but some young ones, not staying with the adults, looked up at the sentry, clueless about what was happening. They looked adorably confused, and only after a moment did they start looking for places to hide.
Netizens were stunned!
"Whoa, that was startling! I didn't even have time to react!"
"Ha ha, the one hiding in the cardboard box is so funny!"
Fang Ye couldn't help but laugh: "Sentry duty is one of the meerkats' most interesting behaviors! When you visit the zoo, keep an eye out for it.
The sentry meerkat climbs to a high point to survey the area for safety. If it spots danger, it loudly warns the others, who quickly retreat into burrows or stop their activities inside the burrows.
The sentry will also be the first to emerge from the burrow to check if the danger has passed. Once the sentry stops the warning, the others will come out.
Adult meerkats can make 30 different vocalizations, each with a specific meaning, distinguishing between aerial and terrestrial predators and indicating the level of danger.
Experienced sentries are more trusted by their peers. If the sentry is experienced, the other meerkats will quickly hide. Otherwise, they will look around to confirm if there is really a predator!"
After a while, when the sentry confirmed there was no danger, it called out twice, and the other meerkats slowly emerged from their hiding spots.
Young meerkats also need to learn sentry duties, starting from a young age.
They look like little kids pretending to be adults, which is very cute.
Sentry duty is not an easy task. Young meerkats, still developing, find it difficult to balance on their hind legs for long. After a while, their legs get tired.
They drop back down, yawn, rest for a bit, or lie on their companions, playing and chattering before resuming their sentry duties.
The warm sun makes the young meerkats even sleepier.
After ten minutes or so, their wide-open eyes gradually narrow to slits.
They wobble and sway but persist in their duties, looking very adorable.
Young meerkats need a lot of sleep each day, and despite their efforts, their bodies can't keep up.
Gradually, their heads droop until they fall to the ground with a thud!
With their heads resting on the ground, they fall asleep, snoring softly.
Netizens couldn't help but laugh at this amusing scene.
Just then, a keeper entered, placing a sweet potato decorated with beans to look like a porcupine.
"Hey, I thought meerkats ate insects. Do they eat vegetables too?"
"Isn't this for playing?"
The meerkats cautiously observed the strange porcupine-like sweet potato, slowly gathering around it.
They raised their tails, arched their backs, and chattered noisily!
One meerkat took the lead, slapping the sweet potato and knocking off a couple of beans.
It turned out to be just a prop!
With the threat eliminated, the parents resumed their sentry duties.
The young meerkats, previously hiding, now curiously gathered around the sweet potato porcupine, biting at it and pulling off the beans.
It was quite entertaining, and the young ones played happily, unknowingly building their courage.
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