MEERKATS

Have you ever wondered what a Meerkat is, or what they look like, or where they live? In this article you can know all you want about Meerkats. Meerkats are really cool and they are one of my favorite animals. Here are some true facts about a Meerkat's body, weight, face, and lots more.

• A Meerkat can see in colors and they have these dark eye markings that are there to act something like built in sunglasses
• A Meerkat has non-retractable claws on his 4 toes
• A Meerkat's ears are closeable.
• Most Meerkat's are 12 inches high and they weigh 2 pounds or 0.9 kg.
• A Meerkat's tail is about 8 inches long and used as a tripod to balance the animal in an upright position.

Meerkat's Home, Home Sweet Home

Meerkats live in Africa in the Kalahari Desert...well...unless somebody adopts them to put in a zoo or to be their pet. Then they would not be in the Kalahari Desert and their homes are basically just grass lined burrows that they share with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses.

Meerkat Predators (ooh I'm scared...)

Poor Meerkats! I found out that Meerkats are snack size for a number of animals so one Meerkat always stays on guard while another Meerkat sleeps or does any other activity where they can't possibly watch out for themselves. Meerkat Predators are animals like eagles and jackals. Meerkats themselves eat scorpions, beetles, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, worms, crickets, small mammals, small reptiles, birds, eggs, tubers and roots.

Ooh-la-la I almost forgot to tell you that a Meerkat can have a little romance once in a while. The alpha male and female do most of the breeding. They always do the breeding on October - April in the wild, but they breed year-round in captivity.

Well hope you readers like this article especially for the Meerkat lovers!

- Arunya, 9, Indonesia

(Photo courtesy http://www.perthzoo.wa.gov.au/main.html)

Saving Miracle

On a cold day in August a three month old Welsh Corgi roamed the streets of Hendersonville, North Carolina, where twelve boys and girls played soccer. The puppy went up to the field and started whimpering. The kids and their babysitter they stopped playing, noticing that the dog was bleeding from the leg.

"What's wrong with him?" they said. The babysitter took the little one year old baby off of her back and walked over to the pup. He lay quiet as a mouse, bleeding so bad the grass was turning red. "Stay back kids," their sister said, staring at the dog and wondering "Should I get near it, will it bite me?" Risking being bit she picked up the dog and told the kids to follow her.

Their sitter was their sister and they all lived together in a shack with two bedrooms - one for her parents and one she had to share with twelve younger siblings. Snow started to pour like rain does when it floods. Being careful not trip or fall in the deep snow, putting one foot in front of the other, they carefully walked to the Animal Hospital Of Etowah, begging the vet to help him.

The kids waited there for three hours, not leaving even when the baby got restless. They got there at 8:50 AM. At 2:00 PM the vets came out, and there came the welsh corgi limping behind the vet.

"Look sissy, he is better" one of the boys said. The vet called the sitter up to the front desk and said "You've saved a life today. That's why we have decided to give your parents 15,000 dollars so you can buy a house!" Their parents came and got them, and took the welsh corgi home with them.

That was two years ago, and I was that sister. I still have the welsh corgi. My brothers and sisters and I came up with Miracle as the name for him. We lived in a shack two years ago, and now we have three cars and a two story house. That was the best day of my life.

- Camillia 11 North Carolina