This is a meerket peering out from its hidey hole at the LA Zoo. They're cute little things, but I suppose they'd rip your arms off if you tried to touch one, wouldn't they?
Lunchtime Photo
9 thoughts on “Lunchtime Photo”
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Cats, charts, and politics
I once stayed at a place in South Africa, just outside of Kimberley NC, where the meerkats had set up housekeeping right in the middle of the main garden. They were entirely tolerant of--and largely oblivious to--people. If you chose to sit down on the ground in their midst, they would avoid walking on you (mostly), but otherwise didn't seem to care one way or another about your presence.
They're so cute, it's part of their strategy to defeat homo sapiens while focusing on the predators on four legs or flying above.
OMG! What did you do to Charlie???
Fun meerkat fact: they're the most "murderous" species of mammal that we know of. Up to 20% of meerkat deaths are caused by other meerkats.
See for instance: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/28/495798448/what-meerkat-murder-tells-us-about-human-violence
Extra credit for that NPR link is a link to a chart from old-school science blogger Ed Yong of the 30 most "murderous" species. https://twitter.com/edyong209/status/781181360425754624
"Any stranger is attacked and can be bitten severely, the meerkat latching on, biting to the bone and not letting go. Children are prime targets because they appear weak and for the meerkat’s human family, this can result in major social problems with neighbours and visitors."
Hakuna matata!
He's sad because of all the suffering, not just yours but all the suffering, but ripping your arms off is so much more important.
A meerkat keeper at the Saint Andrew’s Aquarium in Scotland assured me that meerkats are nasty little biters.
A fine little murderer.