Following Meerkat Family

It always was my dream to capture Meerkat photographs. These small mammals belong to the mongoose family and are well-known. Everybody just adores them, as they behave just like us humans do. Every Meerkat family has young babies that are wrestling as our children do. When the nerves of the adults are at the end, they separate them. The young Meerkats baby faces are way too cute. The large eyes, the funny look, just adorable, sweet creatures. Also, the adults have their glamorous appeal when standing on their back legs – the Outlook of the African Savannah.

After a bumpy Cessna flight from South Africa, we arrived at the Makgadikgadi Pan, a natural salt pan in Botswana. The next morning the adventure started to follow a family group on their foraging tour in the desert and, of course, to take Suricata animal photographs.

We arrived early morning at their burrow, and the first wild animal had already a peak of the entrance. Who is coming? Well, me, I want to see all the fun out in the wild and about with the little Meerkats. After a few minutes, the Suricate clan curiosity was significant, the hunger probably too, and they came all out of the burrow. It did not stop, one after the other, more and more. I should have counted but didn’t. Many were coming out, including the baby animals. I started to wonder how big is their underground home! This family group was large, and all were running, jumping, or searching for food around our legs. These little fellows are not that big, probably around 25-45cm tall when standing on their back legs, scouting for predators.

This is one of our Meerkat family photographs. A sentry is always looking out for predators. A true African safari animal to see.

After the whole Suricate family has left the burrow, a little sunbath was taken. The hunt begins, foraging for food. One adult animal was the lookout for birds of prey and the others searching for lizards, frogs, or bugs. Sometimes I got a little bit buried in flying sand and dust while one animal was digging in the ground. While on the ground, taking Meerkat photos of the family, I felt something on my legs. I fast-checked what creature wants to bite me, and I saw a little one crawling along my leg, jumping off to grab that frog! Bon appetite! Okay, that is fine with me, an animal needs to eat. I went on taking photographs of these fast animals digging in the ground. Then again, I felt something, this time on my back, wondering up to my head.

Well, when the tail of this head intruder was in my way, I knew what it is: The Sentry standing upright doing its duty – gazing the landscape for predators.

The sweet animals in the wild are digging for food in the desert. Maybe for snakes too!

The little sweet animal decided to use me as a watchtower for scanning the landscape. Every clan has its sentries, which they swap during the day the scouting shift for predators. So, this guard on my head has found its place and seemed quite comfortable! If just that tail would have been a tad to the right or left! I did not touch the tail at all or the body, even if it touched me!

I went on with my job taking photographs on the ground. Crawling in the sand over bushes and around. This Suricate guard on my head seemed to enjoy the free ride on a tower. It was fine with me as long it did not pee or bite. None of that happened along the journey. After about 10min, he left me while I was on the ground again, not too long, and the next Scout was on my shoulder. “Hello, little chap, wanna free ride too?”

The Sentries in a row. You find these cute Meerkat photographs in our collection. Both small mammals are scouting the landscape for predators.

We spent about 2-3 hours with the whole family, walking across the desert about 2-3km to another underground castle. One after the other disappeared into the burrow for a cooler spot. The last animal had another look and was gone. I was again wondering that so many animals have space in this underground castle. I should not forget to mention that these funny creatures are also like us! How can they be like we are? Discover their fun facts.

All our wild animals images are for sale as an image license as well as wall art prints in my portfolio. Do you have a few more minutes? Why not check out another African wildlife post on my blog or the tiger eyes.