Homeland: Dry open country in southern Africa

Eats: Insects, grubs, small snakes, lizards, birds, eggs, and mice

Fun facts:

• We meerkats are a type of mongoose. We stand about a foot tall and weigh only about two pounds. That's about one-fourth the weight of your average housecat!

• We live in groups known as mobs. A mob consists of up to 30 members, each of whom has a clearly defined "job" that protects us from predators and helps ensure our survival. I’ve had many jobs during my life.

Here are some of the more popular mob jobs:

Babysitters stay close by young meerkats while their parents nap or do their own jobs. Teachers teach young meerkats how to hunt. (All meerkats are hunters, getting their own meals.) One of the most important mob jobs is that of the sentry, who stands on alert on the highest point near other meerkats and scans the horizon for predators. The sentry will bark a warning, and members of the mob band together in a hissing, jumping mass to frighten off predators such as jackals. Or the meerkats may retreat underground. Either way, we sure appreciate the hard work of our eagle-eyed sentries.

• We’re naturally immune to certain venoms and poisons. This helps make scorpions and some small venomous snakes a tasty part of our diet.

• Meerkats wear sunglasses. Well, not really. That dark coloration over our eyes really just acts as sunglasses, and protects our eyes from the harsh desert sun. Not only that, but it makes us look very cool.