About Meerkat Manor

One night, when both of us were too tired to continue with work or even to read, Susan and I were flipping around the TV channels and found a wonderful show called "Meerkat Manor" on Animal Planet. This is an ongoing documentary about the lives of several gangs of Meerkats, which according to Wikipedia is a member of the mongoose family of mammals. They live in the Kalahari desert in southern Africa. These are very cute creatures (who doesn't love seeing them all stand together on their hind legs?). And they exhibit very interesting group behaviors, such as babysitting each other's pups while some of the gang leave home to forage for food. But what makes this series particularly appealing is the way the shows have been put together. First, the meerkats are each given their own names (see here for the most prominent members of the Whiskers), and their personalities are described in detail from show to show. You get a very strong sense of the storyline of the meerkats lives, both as individuals and as members of their family gangs. The narration keeps it interesting, and there is always a cliffhanger at the end of each episode, such as "Will casanova Carlos hook up with an unattached female from the neighboring gang?" or "Will the deadly cobra snake hidden in their burrows be a problem for the unsuspecting pups as they sleep overnight?" or "Will baby-sitter Shakespeare be able to defend the young pups against the attacking neighbor gang... can he hold out until the rest of the Whiskers family returns from their foraging trip?" Good stuff!