103 232 Meerkat (Slender tailed) Family: Herpestidae Genus Species: Suricata Suricatta This meerkat lives and travels as a colony. They often live in the burrows dug by the ground squirrel, they will also dig its own burrows. During the day they travel in a group to their feeding grounds. If alarmed or disturbed they will run to their burrows. The young often are over taken. When the meerkat runs it does so with its tail straight in the air. When they get to the entrance of their dens, they proudly sit upright to watch you. I have often seen the meerkats in groups of from ten to 40 crossing the road in front of me. They are a nervous animal in captivity - they continually scratch the earth or get into mischief.