God is Great

Had a fantastic week with a lot lot happening in my religious growth.

I told recently that Liefie the dominant female is very pregnant. Well it has happened. During the night she had some baby's because this morning she would not come out of the burrows. And then i noticed suckling marks on Molly's nipples, so the proof is in the pudding. Now it is that 3 to 4 week waiting to see how many survive.

Another day in Meerkatville, The meerkats came out very early, kind of preparing for the cold front that is moving in over the Outeniqua mountains.

Liefie is growing bigger and bigger every day, two to three weeks to go.

Also had some rare visitors to the area two secretary birds graced our fields with their presence.

A strange meerkat showed its face the day before yesterday, but were chased off very quickly, i could not get a good look at it but it did not look very familiar.

That's all the news i have for today.

Looks like tourist season is slowly following summer out of hibernation. Had a big group yesterday and this morning i had two very nice lady's from the States, complete different reaction to the first sighting of a meerkat, usually there is a lot of ooooo's and aaaa's and sometimes people get a bit emotional, but giggle fit's? that was a new one, well i'd say just as rewarding.

We are eventually back at the main burrows and all eleven meerkats seems very happy and content, even with the military training on the one side and the Corhaan battlefield on the other.

Liefie is doing good in the second half of her pregnancy, her body is starting to get a bit heavy for her legs so she is sitting on her bum a lot more than standing.

Fare well Cindi

I haven't seen her in 10 day's, so i amuse she has left with the boyfriend. May she have a long, safe life with a lot of children.

Tourist season is very quiet, and then you get those people who phone you for half an hour, book a tour and then just don't have the decency to pitch up or phone you when they can't make it.

Looks like today is my day for complaints.

The meerkats did not come to the main burrows for a couple of day's, very strange when there is no signs of predator activity or strange meerkats and then i find it a spot were someone has urinated right at the main barrows.

You see i very seldom look back when we start walking with the meerkats because they can vanish into the shrubs so quickly, so i must have missed it when someone stayed behind to relieve themselves.

That cent of human urine will stay there for a while and being the cent of a predator it will scare the meerkats away.

I don't mind people releaving themselves in the bush, but not right on top of my burrows.

So i haven't seen Cindi since Friday. Th assume the boyfriend came back for her.

O the confusion in the morning, no one knows who is supposed to do first watch. One of the musketeers and two baby's come out at the same time and sit there very confused, looking very lost.

I'm sure they will sort it out very soon.

A new thing in the Oudtshoorn sky's is a skydiving plane that is very disturbing to the meerkats, you see it take a while for them to get use to these strange birds in the sky. Even when the airport is 10 km away they can still see every plane and parachute.

Sentry for an orphan

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.

The prodigal daughter shows herself

Beautiful morning, not a single cloud in the sky.

Took out some crazy Irish people, made me stand like a meerkat to take pictures( They didnt know there were real meerkats!!!!!). I will show the pictures when i get them, they said they will send me one.

Well everything went great all 11 remaining meerkats came out and the tour were going great, till all of a sudden all the tails went up in a challenge. As i look in the direction they were staring there were a meerkat about fifty meters behind me, and guess who , "Cindi" and she was just as exited to see us, she came running up to us till she was about 3 meters behind our chairs. But meerkat life isn't that simple.

When you leave your family for 5 day's like Cindi did, it is just not that simple, you are seen as a intruder, deserter and enemy, especially if you have a boyfriend in tow.

The whole family came charging at her and my hart broke as she turned around, and tail between her legs she had to run for her life. You see; meerkats do not allow deserters to return when they are pregnant and smelling like other males.

They then turned their attention on the foreign male and chased him out of their area.

What an exiting morning, at least i know Cindi is still alive. It is bad losing an animal, but if you know it's alive it makes it bearable.

The saga continue's.