Scorpions in Meerkat Manor

[RichardMorris]

Has anyone ID'd what the Meerkats eat in this show?
lat: 27° 1'15.02"S
long: 21°39'1.38"E

That's almost in lower Botswana but still in South Africa.

 

[Brian S]

Parabuthus spp/Opistophthalmus spp

 

[Michiel]

Yes, there are studies of the dieet of these mammals. Scorpions are part of the stable diet of a meerkat.
I agree with Brian on the genera which you see on tv, but in general the meerkats do not mind to which genus a scorpions belongs. They just eat every scorpion they can get their claws on.

 

[talljosh003]

are meerkats immune to the venom?

 

[kbekker]

partially but it has a lot to do with how they consume them...

Observation of meerkats has shown that adults teach pups how to properly eat a scorpion. This lesson is taught in stages. At first, pups are simply given dead scorpions; later on, they get ones with stingers broken off. Eventually, the pups will be handed a disabled scorpion, stinger and all. Finally, as they approach the age at which they're able to go out on their own, an adult may toss a young meerkat a live scorpion [source: BBC].

http://www.livescience.com/animals/060713_meerkat_school.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1590/is_4_63/ai_n27014258

Gotta love the internet, although ya gotta be careful what you read, as we have learned in recent threads.

 

[Michiel]

They are immune to the venom, but they also have a thick hairy skin, so scorpions have hard time to puncture the skin. Also, the meerkats pummel the scorpions with their paws, hitting it many times, the scorpion will be disorientated by this and before "it knows" it's tail has been bitten off and it becomes a chewy snack.
So the meerkats have a couple of advantages: immunity for venom, thick, hairy skin and speed and agility.

 

[talljosh003]

and before "it knows" it's tail has been bitten off

are you making a reference to the other thread about scorpion intelligence lol

 

[Michiel]

I wouldn't dare to