Fun Trivia » Animals » Carnivores » Herpestidae- Mongoose Family

Mongooses are very similar looking to weasels though they are not closely related. Mongoose belong to the Herpestidae family which is more closely related to Viverrids (civets and genets) and Felids (cats). Difficulty: Easy.

 

big stocky bodies, large ears, no tails, medium sized animals with no fur and no tails, very small short round bodies, pointed ears, rat like tails

Meerkats live in the semiarid plains of southern Africa. They prefer to live among the scrubland. (Wildlife Fact File) Difficulty: Hard.

 

The wetlands of East Africa, In the Gambia, In Serengeti National Park

Mongooses can be primarily found in Africa and southern Asia but some do live in southern Europe. They have been introduced to some islands and they usually have a devastating effect on the island's ecosystems. Difficulty: Easy.

 

North America and Central America, Europe and Siberia, Australia and Oceania

It is a loanword from Afrikaans via middle Dutch "meercatte" meaning monkey: (meer = sea, catte = cat) because monkeys came from overseas. In Afrikaans it means "lake" or "marsh" cat.
Difficulty: Average.

 

German, Chinese, Russian

The mongoose circles the cobra while evading its numerous strikes and waits for an opening. The mongoose will then attack the cobras head and continue until the cobra is subdued. Difficulty: Easy.

 

viper, rattlesnake, coral snake

Meerkats have many predators, however martial eagles and jackals are the main ones. Badgers sometimes hunt meerkats, but cheetahs do not live in the same areas as meerkats. Difficulty: Hard.

 

lions and hyenas, African leopards and African wild dogs, badgers and cheetahs

Sentries stand guard to keep a watch for predators. (Wildlife Fact File and National Geographic Explorer) Difficulty: Average.

 

Soldiers, Gophers, Mothers

There are 33 known species of mongoose known; most of which are in the genus Herpestes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

20, 100, 50

Meerkats become sexually mature at 12 months of age. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Difficulty: Hard.

 

24 months, 6 months, 18 months

A mutualistic relationship involves two organisms both gaining something from their interaction with each other. In this case the banded mongoose gets food and the warthog gets clean. Difficulty: Hard.

 

parasitism, annoying, commensalism

Meerkat babysitters may nurse their charges, a behaviour known as allonursing. They take their jobs very seriously and will protect the youngsters from danger even if it means getting hurt themselves.

Difficulty: Average.

 

sing them to sleep, carry them in their pouches, bring them toys to play with

The gestation period of a Meerkat is 75 days. 35 days is for a Koala, and 105 days is for a Lion. (Wildlife Fact File) Difficulty: Hard.

 

65 days, 35 days, 105 days

Another animal that can have grizzled fur is a brown bear. Thats where the sub species the Grizzly Bear gets its name, its fur is tipped with white making it grizzled. Difficulty: Hard.

 

fur is rough and coarse, tip of the fur is black, fur is smooth and straight

Once a babysitter perceives danger from other creatures, she will take the babies underground to safety. If this is not possible, she will gather them up and lie on top of them. Danger can come from different places: the sky (birds), the ground (snakes, other meerkat groups). Difficulty: Hard.

 

she will eat them, she will abandon them, she will put them in a tree

There are four species of kusimanse and they all live in Africa. They are all diurnal and live in groups of about 12 to 20. Difficulty: Hard.

 

adult mongoose, male mongoose, female mongoose

Meerkats aren't picky eaters at all, they actually have quite a varied diet. "Solar Panel of the Animal World" comes from the meerkat tendency to stand on their hind legs using their dark-skinned bellies to catch the sun's rays and warm up.


Difficulty: Hard.

 

pickiest eaters of the animal world, best babysitters of the animal world, make-up artists of the animal world

Meerkats can have between 2 to 4 young at a time. (Wildlife Fact File) Difficulty: Hard.

 

5 - 9, 12 - 15, 1 - 18

Mongooses were first brought to Hawaii to control rat populations on the sugarcane plantations. The funny thing is that the rats on the island were nocturnal while the mongooses were diaurnal, so the mongooses had very little effect on the rat population. The mongooses did however have an affect on the bird population which was decimated by the introduction. Mongooses have no natural preadators on the islands so their population keeps growing. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Galapagos Islands, Falkland Islands, Marshall Islands

Meerkats are incredible diggers! They dig to forage for food as well as to make bolt holes used to escape from predators. Difficulty: Easy.

 

to prevent them from being ripped while fighting, to intimidate predators, to advertise readiness for mating

All meerkats don't look the same. Fur colors range from orange to gray. Besides, meerkats don't use features like banded eyes, spots, and colors to recognize one another. Instead, they use smell. They rub clansmen with secretions from an anal gland.
The leader of the group, the alpha, decides just about everything for the mob, like when to get up, when to start looking for food, where to live and for how long.
Although meerkats are social, they restrict that sociability to clansmen. They will fight individual meerkats or whole gangs of them for territory and food. Fighting within the mob is usually restricted to fighting for dominance, for the alpha position. Difficulty: Hard.

 

All meerkats look alike, they'll never notice us moving in., Since we're known as social animals, we know the clan next door will welcome us., It's not really up to me as the leader to decide something as important as moving.

In the Kalahari, the months between September through May are filled with an abundance of food sources. These plentiful times influence the meerkat's birthing and reproduction cycles. The plentiful time makes it a perfect time to have children since meerkat babies are not able to fend for themselves, and adults have to feed themselves and their entire liter. Difficulty: Hard.

 

April through September, December through March, March through July

Meerkats mate year round. (Wildlife Fact File) Difficulty: Hard.

 

Only during the rains, Only in the dry season, Every 2 years

The t.v. show "Meerkat Manor" ran for four seasons on Animal PLanet (2005-2008). it showed the day to day struggles of meerkat families as they tried and survive in the Kalahari Desert. Difficulty: Hard.

 

katmeer, ground cat, mongoose cat

The meerkat population in Africa is distributed mainly around the Kalahari Desert and the country of South Africa. Difficulty: Hard.

 

tropical areas, rich grasslands, mountainous areas

The meerkat's Latin name is Suricata suricatta. Like all species, the meerkat's Latin name is the name that is used universally in science, regardless of different languages. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Physeter macrocephalus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, Phrynosoma cornutum

The average lifespan of a wild meerkat is about 10 years. (National Geographic Explorer) Difficulty: Hard.

 

About 20 years, About 5 years, About 15 years