So summer is here temperature's in the 20's and beautiful days. Yesterday afternoon like everyday i went to the meerkats to see where they were sleeping. And there was Cindi fifty meters away, desperately begging to be let back into the family, but no chance, they just won't budge.
I think it has got a lot to do with confusion as well as misunderstanding.
You see, meerkats do not recognize one another by looking at faces and body shapes, but rely more on imprinting on the tail and smell. So when Cindi decided to follow a boyfriend for a couple of day's she is now seen as a stranger by the family, firstly because she approach them in a very submissive way with her tail low down so they don't really get the chance to see her tail so as to recognize her, so instinctively they come forward to greet her very aggressively which makes her run away and they don't get the chance to see that its Cindi. Secondly she now smells of a different male and that also make them aggressive to her.
She is now sleeping alone in one of the other burrows in the area, you see, the family has driven the strange male out of the area and he has not returned for Cindi. And Cindi wont leave their territory on her own, so she is now orphaned .
So yesterday i spend a couple of hours walking with her and playing sentry for her so that she could get some peaceful foraging time.
Today there were no sign of her, so i hope she is alright. We will just have to see what happens the next couple of day.
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