What is the difference between meerkats and prairie dogs

Meerkats inhabit open and arid lands including open plains and savannah. They prefer areas with firm to hard soils. They dig out intricate underground tunnel systems called burrows. These burrows can be 16 feet long and up to 1. It helps protect the mob from predators and the harsh heat of the desert sun. Meerkats live in large groups of up to 40 members called a gang or a mob.

Each member of the gang performs certain tasks like foraging for food, watching out for predators, or staying behind, to take care of the newborn pups while everyone else looks for food. Sitter meerkats will often go without food the entire day while watching over the pups. While others forage for food there will be a lookout called a sentry that will guard against predators.

The sentry will find the highest point that could afford a view of the desert and the sky. The guard may also stand on his hind legs to get a better view. It will scan the area and watch out for threats so the rest can focus on finding food. If the sentry spots a predator it will let out a loud squeal or call to warn the others. The latter will then hide inside their safe-spots called bolt-holes. Meerkats are small herpestids with males and females weighing around g and g respectively.

They have long and slender bodies and legs with the body length ranging from 25 cm to 35 cm. The thin tail measures around The non-bushy nature of the tail distinguishes the meerkat from most other mongoose species.

Meerkats have rounded forehead and a tapered faces that come to a point at the nose. Dark patches around their eyes is a distinguishing factor of the species.

Their fur color varies geographically ranging from brown to peppered gray with lighter colors in more arid environments. Tails have a black tip. The dorsal parts of the body have less fur than the ventral parts. The foreclaws are adapted to digging burrows in the ground. Meerkats make at least 20 sounds and vocalizations. These sounds which include murmurs, loud twitters, gentle purs, or threatening growls deliver different messages.

For example, a sentry or guard will let out a high-pitched squeal or bark to warn others of danger. They are primarily insectivorous and eat insects like termites, grubs, beetles, caterpillars, worms, centipedes, etc.

These social rodents, native to Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and Montana, ruthlessly bite and thrash Wyoming ground squirrels to death, leaving their bloody bodies to rot, a new study says. Woodchucks, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and marmots are all ground squirrels! Tree squirrels and ground squirrels are active in the day.

Some species in this family, like prairie dogs, live in colonies, other species are solitary. Gophers have bigger teeth and bigger claws for digging. They have solitary habits, whereas prairie dogs are social animals.

Prairie dogs play an important role in the ecosystem. They provide food for predators and shelter for other burrowing animals. Another species, the Utah prairie dog, also eats its young but the behavior is rare or non-existent in other species.

In fact, prairie dogs do not pose a major risk for spreading plague to humans because when they are exposed to the disease they normally die too quickly to pass it on to us. The Colorado Department of Health has documented only 42 plague cases since Of those, just six are linked to prairie dogs. Young prairie dogs are called pups, despite looking more like a squirrel-gopher hybrid. But it is normal behavior for the black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus.

Although groundhogs -- also called woodchucks -- and prairie dogs share many traits and habits, they are easily distinguishable by their many differences, especially their appearance.