MEERKATS.
Meerkats plentiful in the Karroo--Their appearance--Intelligence
--Fearlessness--Friendship for dogs--A meerkat in England--Meerkat
an inveterate thief--An owl in Tangier--Taming full-grown meerkat
--Tiny twins--A sad accident--Different characters of meerkats--
The turkey-herd--Bob and the meerkat--"The Mouse."
The little meerkats were surely created for the express purpose of
being made into pet animals. Certainly no prettier or funnier little
live toys could possibly be imagined. Nearly every homestead in the
Karroo has its tame meerkat, or more likely two or three, all as much
petted and indulged, and requiring as much looking after, as spoilt and
mischievous children. In their wild state, these little creatures are
gregarious, and live, like the prairie-dogs and biscachas of the
Western Continent, in deep holes underground, feeding chiefly on
succulent bulbs, which they scratch up with the long, curved, black
claws on their fore-feet. They are devoted sun-worshippers; and in the
early morning, before it is daylight, they emerge from their burrows,
and wait in rows till their divinity appears, when they bask joyfully
in his beams. They are very numerous in the Karroo; and as you ride or
drive along through the _veldt_ you often come upon little colonies of
them, sitting up sunning themselves, and looking, in their quaint and
pretty favourite attitude, like tiny dogs begging. As you approach,
they look at you fearlessly and impudently, allowing you to come quite
close; then, when their confiding manner has tempted you to get down in
the wild hope of catching one of them, suddenly all pop so swiftly into
their little holes, that they seem to have disappeared by magic.
[Illustration: A MEERKAT.]
There are two kinds of meerkats; one red, with a bushy tail like that
of a squirrel, the other grey, with a pointed tail, and it is this
latter kind which makes so charming a pet. The quaint, old-fashioned
little fellow is as neatly made as a small bird; his coat, of the
softest fur, with markings not unlike those of a tabby cat, is always
well kept and spotlessly clean; his tiny feet, ears, and nose are all
most daintily and delicately finished off; and the broad circle of
black bordering his large dark eyes serves, like the antimony of an
Egyptian beauty, to enhance the size and brilliancy of the orbs. A
curious kind of seam, starting from the middle of his chin and running
underneath him the whole length of his body, gives him somewhat the
appearance of a stuffed animal which has not been very carefully sewn
up. His bright, pretty little face is capable of assuming the greatest
variety of expressions, that which it most frequently wears when in
repose being a contented, self-satisfied smirk; impudence and
independence displaying themselves at the same time in every line of
his plump little figure. With his large, prominent forehead, giving
evidence of the ample brain within, one need not, perhaps, wonder at
his being one of the most sagacious of animals; although it is
certainly almost startling to find all the intelligence of a dog in a
wee thing which you can put in your pocket, or which, if buttoned up on
a cold day inside the breast of your ulster, is as likely as not, when
tired of that retreat, to squirm out down your sleeve. He is absolutely
without fear; and with consummate coolness and audacity will walk up to
the largest and most forbidding-looking dog, although a perfect
stranger to him, and, carefully investigating the intruder on all sides
with great curiosity, express disgust and defiance in a succession of
little, short, sharp barks--"quark! quark! quark!" He is soon on the
friendliest terms with all the resident dogs in the place; showing a
marked preference for those possessing soft, long-haired coats, on
which he evidently looks as a provision of nature existing solely for
his benefit, and in which, like the little Sybarite that he is, he
nestles luxuriously on cold days, chattering and scolding indignantly,
with a vicious display of teeth, if the dog, getting up and going away,
rudely disturbs his nap. Out of doors he is the inseparable satellite
of the dog; and during strolls about the farm--in which, by-the-by, one
is often attended by a motley crew of furred and feathered friends--the
meerkat is sure to be seen following immediately in the wake of the
dog, as closely as the latter follows master and mistress. Even a good
long walk does not seem to tire his strong little legs, or, at any
rate, if it does he is too plucky to give in and turn back, and as long
as the dog keeps going on, he valiantly follows every _détour_ of that
animal's erratic course. Often, when starting for a ride or drive, we
have been obliged to shut up our meerkat, so determined was he to come
with us.
The astonishment of dogs in England at a meerkat brought home by us was
most amusing. They would run after him, apparently taking him for some
kind of rat; and when, to their amazement, instead of running away, he
boldly trotted up to them, and, calmly and somewhat contemptuously
surveying them, began to beg, they would hang their heads and draw
back, with looks plainly expressive of their opinion that he was "no
canny." It was fortunate for him that he inspired them with such awe,
for otherwise he would certainly have died the death of a rat on one of
the numerous occasions when he got away and wandered on his own account
through the Kentish village where we were staying. The human natives
whose cottages and shops he invaded, and to whom, with patronizing
coolness and colonial absence of ceremony, he introduced himself, were
scarcely less puzzled than the dogs at the queer animal we had brought
from "foreign parts."
Every meerkat is an inveterate little thief; and if you leave him for
one instant where a meal is prepared, you are sure on returning to see
him jump guiltily off the table and make for the nearest hiding-place,
chattering triumphantly as he goes, like a blackbird caught stealing
fruit; an overturned milk-jug, dishes rifled of their contents, and
sticky trails of butter, jam, or gravy across the tablecloth,
proclaiming how profitably he has used his opportunity. He revels in
mischief; and the reckless destructiveness in which he indulges, with
no possibility of advantage to himself, but just for the fun of the
thing, often brings you to the end of your patience. You vow that you
will endure him no longer. You must get rid of him. The great Newton
himself could not have pardoned such a constantly-offending Diamond.
But the little rogue knows what is passing through your mind; and he
knows, too, how to get on the right side of you. He assumes his
prettiest attitude and his most benevolent smile; and as he sits bolt
upright, turning his little head from side to side with quick, jerky
movements, calling to you in the softest and sweetest of the numerous
voices with which nature has endowed him, he is so irresistibly comical
that, whatever he may have done, you cannot find it in your heart to be
wroth with him very long. He is soon restored to favour; and then, to
express his extreme contentment, he goes and lies flat on his stomach
in the sunshine, with his legs stretched out straight. He is so flat
that he seems all poured out over the ground, and looks like an empty
skin. What becomes of his bones on these occasions is a constant source
of wonder.
The only other creature I have seen capable of so entirely changing its
form at a moment's notice was a little owl we have since had in
Tangier. This was a delightful pet, full of character and intelligence,
though but a tiny thing not more than four inches high--a good part of
this height consisting of the two long, ear-like tufts of feathers on
the head. The absurd little fellow, who looked like one of the owl
pepper-pots come to life, had many amusing ways; but what delighted us
most about him was the startling abruptness with which not only his
manner, but his whole appearance, even his shape, would change as if by
magic, according to his frame of mind. He would sit, for instance, in a
contemplative attitude, his eyes sleepily half-closed, his "ears"
sticking up very straight, and his body looking extremely long and
thin, as long as no one was interfering with him; but once disturb his
repose, and instantly he would change his shape and become a fat little
ball of soft fluffiness;--a grey powder-puff--with no ears visible, and
two great yellow eyes glaring at you with the most ireful expression.
Unfortunately, relying too much on the tameness of our owl, and fearful
of spoiling his beauty, we neglected the precaution of cutting one of
his wings, in consequence of which we were one day left lamenting this
prettiest of North African pets; and though we tried hard to procure
another, explaining, with the little amount of Spanish at our command,
to all the small boys in Tangier that we wanted "_un pajarito con
orejas_" ("a little bird with ears,") we never looked upon his like
again, and I imagine he must have been an uncommon bird.
The best chance of capturing full-grown meerkats is when, during long
droughts, little companies of them are travelling in search of water;
they often have to go long distances, and when they are thus far from
their holes it is possible, though by no means easy, to run one down.
In a few days, even if quite old when caught, a meerkat will know his
name, come to you when called, or at least answer you with a little
soft, bird-like note from whatever corner of the room he may be hiding
in; scramble up into your lap, eat out of your hand, and altogether be
nearly as tame as one which has been brought up in the house from
infancy; though of course there is always the chance that, knowing the
joys of liberty, he may some day, like the owl, take it into his head
to desert.
T----, riding one day, and encountering a little travelling party of
meerkats, gave chase on horseback. One of the animals, a very large,
fat one, made for a hole, but found it a tight fit. He stuck fast, and
T---- pulled him out ignominiously by the tail, and rode off with him.
The mare--a wild, half-broken young thing--was so mad with fright at
the way in which the little fury, though tethered by a handkerchief,
dashed about, scratching and tearing at her sides, that she bolted all
the way home. And when T---- set the new inmate down on the floor of
the sitting-room, where it stood at bay, snarling savagely at us, it
seemed about as unpromising a specimen on which to exercise our powers
of taming animals as could well be imagined. But, refusing to be
daunted, we began by tying our captive to the leg of the table, where
he had to accustom himself to seeing us constantly passing and
repassing; and though at first he tried to fly at us every time we came
near, he soon saw that we had no evil designs against him, and was
reassured by our careful avoidance of abrupt movements and sudden
noises--most important of all rules to be observed in taming wild
creatures. In a few hours he was sufficiently at home to drink
milk--though cautiously and watchfully--from a teaspoon held out to
him; and in four days he was following us about the house like a little
dog.
This meerkat, the largest and handsomest we have ever seen, cannot have
been anything less than the chief of his tribe. His powerful, tusk-like
teeth, his unusually broad and capacious forehead, his superior
intelligence, even for so clever a creature as a meerkat, all
proclaimed him born to command. When one day he repaid the care and
affection of many weeks by cruelly and ungratefully leaving us, we felt
little doubt that, after giving civilization a fair trial, and
comparing it with his old life, he had decided in favour of the latter,
and started off home. We have often wondered whether he succeeded in
finding his way back to his subterranean kingdom. And if so, did he
find his subjects still faithful? or was he forgotten, and did another
king reign in his stead?
One evening, when the men returned from the camps, one of the
ostrich-herds displayed, nestling together in the palm of his hand, two
baby meerkats, no larger than good fat mice, which he had caught in the
veldt. Rewarding the captor, in the usual Karroo style of barter, with
a pound of coffee, we took possession of his prize; and though at first
our chance of rearing the tiny animals seemed doubtful, they
flourished, grew up into fine specimens of their kind, and were among
the most amusing of all our pets. They looked like a perfectly-matched
pair of little images with heads moving by clockwork, as they stood,
bolt upright, in their favourite places, one against each door-post,
and, critically surveying the view with an air of never having seen it
before, revelled in the hot sunshine which came pouring in through the
open doorway.
Unlike "birds in their little nests," and more after the unamiable
fashion of human twins--who generally have to be sent to separate
schools--they got on very badly together; and their frequent fights
displayed most comically the strong contrast of the two energetic
little characters. One of them was selfish and greedy, and, however
liberal the supply of food presented--even though it were three times
as much as he could possibly eat--always wanted all for himself.
Jumping into the middle of the plate, he would stand--a miniature dog
in the manger--noisily defending the contents against his gentler
brother, whom he would attack and bite savagely if he ventured near.
The other was a far nobler and finer character; and, though he too
could "bark and bite" on occasion in an equally unbrotherly manner, it
was no such base, material cause of jealousy which impelled him to do
battle. Our notice and our affection were what _he_ wanted all for
himself; and so bitterly did he resent every kind word, every slightest
caress bestowed on his companion, that it was the instant signal for
war, and, flying at the other, he would attack him as vengefully as he
in his turn was attacked at feeding-time.
Both brothers were on terms of insolent and contemptuous familiarity
with Toto; on whom they looked as their slave, whom they made the butt
for their jokes, and in the soft warmth of whose coat they slept as on
the most luxurious of fur rugs. And when _he_ wanted to sleep and
_they_ did not, how they relished the fun of keeping him awake against
his will! What riotous games they would have, chasing each other
backwards and forwards across his recumbent form, pulling his poor
tired eyes open with their mischievous black claws, scratching and
tickling his nose to make him sneeze, and trying their hardest to
burrow into his ear or his mouth. One snap of his powerful jaws, and
their frivolous career would promptly have been cut short; but the good
old dog--who, in spite of all their teasing, loved the troublesome
imps--submitted patiently, though they did make his eyes water.
One day, alas! tired out with play, they were comfortably nestling
close up against their big friend's side, and all three were taking
their afternoon nap. Perhaps Toto had a disturbing dream, perhaps the
flies bothered him and made him restless,--at any rate during his sleep
he rolled over on to one of the meerkats--our favourite, of
course--and, all unconscious of what he was doing, crushed and
suffocated the poor little fellow. Though no one thought of blaming
Toto for what was purely accidental, he instantly and completely
realized that he had caused the death; and as we stood lamenting over
the flattened little body, the poor old dog's distress was most
pathetic. He seemed quite overcome with shame; and as he stole from one
of us to the other, timidly licking our hands, his expressive face
pleaded eloquently for the forgiveness he had no need to ask. With all
our efforts to reassure him it was a long time before his sensitive
conscience recovered from the shock. The surviving little brother lived
to a good old age, came home with us, and succumbed at last to the
severities of an English winter.
The variety of character in our numerous meerkats formed quite an
amusing study. They differed as much as human beings, and among them
all there was but one which was stupid. He, poor fellow, met with
injuries in early life at the hands of one of the cruel boys who looked
after the little ostriches; who, in a passion with him for getting in
the way, picked him up and flung him across the kitchen. He landed in a
saucepan, received spinal damage, and grew up stunted in mind and body.
And when, one day, he came suddenly to his end by tumbling into that
disappointing fountain-basin of which mention has been made, we felt
that on the whole it was rather a happy release.
One of our meerkats was the devoted ally of the turkeys, and would go
out into the _veldt_ with them every day; accompanying them on all
their wanderings, and apparently looking upon himself as their herd. He
would come trotting home with them in the evening, full of his own
importance, and evidently taking to himself the credit of having
brought them all safely back.
Another was fond of rambling off all by himself, sometimes going a very
long way from home. On one occasion some friends from a distant farm,
driving to call on us, saw near the road what they took for a wild
meerkat, and set their collie at it. But animals have a wonderful
instinct for detecting the difference between tame and wild creatures;
and good Bob, dearly though he loved a scamper after any of the
swift-footed denizens of the _veldt_, saw at once that this was not
lawful game. So, instead of the expected chase, there was a friendly
and demonstrative greeting between the two animals. The dog stood
wagging his tail at the meerkat, the meerkat sat up "quarking" at the
dog, and our friends, guessing that the little creature belonged to us,
took him up into their Cape cart, and brought him to his home.
Another meerkat, being so incorrigibly savage that handling him was
always attended with serious damage to the fingers, had to wear a
muzzle, improvised for him by T---- out of one of the little wire
baskets made for the spouts of teapots.
Another, though young and tiny, was a born tyrant; displaying the most
overbearing and imperious of characters. In company with two full-grown
meerkats, we brought him to England; the trio being taken on board the
steamer in a large birdcage. There, however, owing to the truculent
conduct of "the Mouse," as we called the little one, it was soon found
impossible for all three to remain together; and separate quarters had
to be provided for the two older animals. For the impudent mite, hardly
out of babyhood, domineered over his seniors in most lordly fashion;
forbidding them to take their share of the food, and dancing and
jumping excitedly in the dish if they ventured to approach it; while
they, although they could easily have made short work of the Mouse,
calmly submitted; enduring his tyranny with that wonderful patience and
forbearance so often shown by animals to one another under provocation
which we human beings would bitterly resent. Perhaps they were overawed
by the antics of the pugnacious atom, and thought he was not quite
canny; or perhaps they looked leniently on his conduct as on that of a
spoilt child accustomed to be humoured.