So the new baby's are not out yet. Liefie looks very pregnant 'again'! Had a little rain yesterday.

I'm sure computers were designed by woman they are so full of S... , I lost a lot of files the other day, they apparently went corrupt. So if you did a meerkat tour around the 17th , 18th of november, i am very sorry your photo's have been lost, or they work for the government because they are corrupt.

Will keep you posted on the baby's cause they should be out any day now.

Lactation, ovulation build a nation

A meerkat can conceive while she is lactating, she can fall pregnant within 24 hours after giving birth. Gestation period of a meerkat is +- 75 days and Liefie had baby's precisely 76 days after the last baby's were born. The previous baby's were born on the 25th of August and the newest batch on the ninth of November, so do the math.

Every thing else is fine, all the meerkats are healthy.

Fantastic news

Nothing to exiting happening around Meerkatville. Liefie's pregnancy is progressing very well. All twelve members is still fat and healthy.

We had one run in with a aprox 1,5m cobra but it was resolved very soon.

The fantastic news is that i have been given go ahead on The meerkat and wildlife sanctuary on De Zeekoe property. Now it is the red tape and miles and miles of Nature conservation paperwork that we have to go thru. Then only can i start with all the fundraising. So if you know of any potential sponsors, that can sponsor a enclosure at +- R80000 per enclosure and i'm planing about 12 enclosures, Any info or help of any kind will be appreciated. But all fundraising will only happen once i have a red light from nature conservation.

You think someone would care.

Had a lot of overcast bad weather this week, but eventually it started raining this weekend, well every now and then a drop would hit my hat but nothing serious.

I eventually had an experience where i saw how a young meerkat can get left behind and be forgotten.

Following the gang one afternoon i saw how a young baby got given something big to eat. Very into his food, he did nit notice how the rest of the meerkats kept moving on. By the time that the young meerkat was finish with it's meal the rest of the meerkats was about 250m away. Not one of the other meerkats seem to be aware of the fact that they short a member. Only when they hear our young friends loud complaints about being left behind did they all came running back. If They were out of hearing distance, The loud screeching calls might easily be heard by a predator and that would be the end of a young inexperienced meerkat.

And now there is olny 3

On 25 August 2010 Liefie had 4 baby's.

Yesterday i did not see the meerkats because it was raining. So last night i had to look for telltale sign's of where they have foraged and we did a very wet and cold tour this morning.

As they left the burrows i noticed that there is only 3 baby's so somewhere yesterday we lost one of our baby's and i unfortunately do not not know what happened to it. But it is very sad for every one that had the honor of meeting these little creatures.

Technology does not work so well in Africa

On Saturday my internet died, and because it was weekend i couldn't phone anyone. So naturally i thought i didn't pay my account, so in Monday i payed my account, no luck. Eventually i found out that my account is now in credit and that there is some other technical problem that took another 2 days to sort out. Well i'm back on.

Well it is currently raining in Oudtshoorn and the meerkats are having a feast every time it stop's raining because all insects are on the surface. I can not do any tours but i don't mind one bit for we have been praying so long for rain and now it is here.

Frusrtation

So my work is not just fun and games.

Every afternoon i have to find the meerkat's to see where they sleep, so that i know where to take people the next morning. You see the meerkat's live on a 800 hta property.

Now usually their burrow area is only about 20 hta, but they can forage up to 2 or 3 km away from their burrows, and i have seen where they go up to 4 km chasing intruder meerkat's.

The past week and a half they have been gone 3 times that i could not find them and i had to cancel tours, very frustrating!!!

There have been a lot of aerial activity over Meerkat ville, in the form of big flock's of ravens battling over territory and with everything in general.

With young baby's in the group the meerkat's take no chances. So when they come back from foraging and they see these birds all over their burrows they will divert to inferior burrows in another area and sleep there, making it imposible for me to find them.

Yesterday was one of those day's.