Chapter 63: Meerkats fighting silk vipers
When Chu Ye saw the venomous snake in front of him, it became a little nervous. After all, this is a very powerful venomous snake.
Although not as famous as the King Cobra, its venom is no less venomous than the King Cobra.
'Hmph, another powerful venomous snake. However, no matter how powerful you are, if Chu Ye encounters you today, you must become my food. '
Chu Ye doesn't care how powerful your poisonous snake is. In front of it, there is no poisonous snake that can scare him in the entire African prairie.
Therefore, Chu Ye wanted to kill this poisonous snake.
But just when Chu Ye was about to take action, he suddenly heard a squeaking sound coming from the grass nearby, as if some small animal was running over.
When Chu Ye saw this situation, he temporarily hid in the bushes on one side. He wanted to see what kind of small animal ran over.
Soon, Chu Ye saw a small animal like a big mouse running over.
As soon as Chu Ye looked at this little animal, he knew that this little animal must be coming for this poisonous snake.
Because this small animal is called a meerkat, an animal that likes to eat snakes very much. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a meerkat.
The meerkat is a small mammal with a head and tail length of 42-60 cm. The trunk is slender and straight, the limbs are well-proportioned, the hind feet have only 4 toes, and there are webs between the toes; the tail is long and round, about 2/3 of the body length, covered with small scales and sparse hair. The fur on the back is dark brown, mixed with yellow tips, and the down is dark brown; the tail is two colors, with brown and black above, and light yellow at the base and lower part of the tail.
It inhabits grasslands and open plains. Its distribution depends on the soil type. It prefers tropical hard soil and is mainly found in deserts or sand dunes of terrestrial biomes.
They are very social animals, living in groups of up to forty. They are good at digging holes, resting at night and being active during the day. They mainly feed on insects, but they also eat lizards, snakes, spiders, plants, eggs and small animals. mammal. There is no strict seasonality in breeding. The gestation period is about 130 days, and each litter gives birth to 6-8 litters, which can be twice a year. Mainly found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.
Meerkat is a very social animal. Each meerkat group usually consists of 2 to 50 meerkats. The meerkats group constructs a maternal society, and its internal rulers are the male leader and the female leader. The male leader is selected by the female leader.
Below this, other meerkats are of lower status. The cubs have a slightly higher status, but the cubs must leave the family after reaching the age of 3. The male cubs will become the leaders of other groups or form new groups. , the female may return to the group after leaving. Individuals in the same group will frequently groom each other to strengthen social bonds.
The alpha mate will often leave scent marks on subordinates in the group to express their authority. Behaviors such as this are often accompanied by subordinates licking and grooming the leader mate. These behaviors also usually occur when the group member has been away for a while. After the reunion, most meerkats in the same group are all siblings or children of the leader mate.
Meerkats will also look after all the young in the group, and the sterile females will nurse the young in the absence of the leader female. They will also protect their young from any threats, often even to their lives.
When warned of danger, these sitters take their young underground for shelter, ready to guard them if danger should follow (such as a burrowing predator). If unable to hide underground, the nanny will gather the cubs and block them with her own body.
Meerkat's daily life is very rich. Sometimes they engage in activities such as wrestling and racing, and sometimes they sing with real and fake voice changes.
In order to ensure the safety of the meerkat family, when other meerkats are foraging or playing, some meerkats will take the initiative to stand up and shoulder the task of sentry. When danger comes, the sentry will "blow the whistle" to alert their partners. They hide underground for refuge. Sometimes when faced with conflicts on the ground, they will straighten their backs to intimidate the enemy or swarm them to scare the enemy away. Of course, the meerkat family is indeed not easy to mess with. If they go crazy, even cobras are no match for them.
Meerkats are very powerful little animals. Although they are not large, they are the natural enemies of cobras. They often eat cobras as spicy sticks.
Chu Yeye also knew about small animals like meerkats. Now when he saw this meerkat, he knew that this meerkat was coming for this bulging silk viper.
'Okay, now we have a good show. I want to see how this meerkat fights with this poisonous snake. Regardless of which one of them will fail in the end, anyway, the two little animals will become the prey of Chu Ye. '
Chu Ye was hiding in a bush, and he was very happy. After all, how could he not be happy now that suddenly there were two small animals that he could capture?
This venomous snake is not afraid of other animals. If it weren't for the meerkats, venomous snakes like the vipers would not be afraid of other animals at all.
But when this viper saw a meerkat, it had no choice but to run away. Because the meerkat is the natural enemy of all snakes in the entire savannah. Whether it's the famous King Cobra or this less-famous Silk Viper, they are all animals that will run away when they see a meerkat.
The same was true for this bulging silk viper. When it saw this meerkat, it wanted to run away. And how could this meerkat let it go?
So, the meerkat and the belled viper started fighting. The two little animals were going back and forth in the grass, and it was a wonderful fighting scene.
I saw the silk viper bending its body, like a spring, constantly bouncing towards the meerkat's head. Apparently, it wanted to bite the meerkat on the head and then inject its venom into the meerkat's body.
Although the meerkat's body is immune to the venom of many types of venomous snakes. But that doesn't mean that there won't be any problems after their bodies are bitten by poisonous snakes.
In fact, even small animals like meerkats, which are immune to venomous snakes, will faint after being bitten by a venomous snake. After all, their immunity is also limited, which does not mean that no matter how much venom is injected into their bodies, they will not have problems.
Meerkats, like badgers, though, are both capable of preying on venomous snakes. But that doesn't mean that they don't have to worry about the harm the venom of poisonous snakes will cause them.
Whether it is a meerkat or a badger, when hunting a poisonous snake, they try not to let the poisonous snake bite them, and they will also try their best to avoid the poisonous snake's attack on them.
This is the case for this meerkat. Although it is not very afraid of this viper, it does not want to be bitten by this venomous snake. After all, if this poisonous snake bites the body. Then it is possible that the poisonous snake's venom will cause it to faint.
Meerkats also know that in this dangerous African savanna, if a small animal faints in the grass, it will be very dangerous.
Because there are many predators looking for prey in the grass every day. When they encounter some small animals, they will attack them without mercy.
The meerkat doesn't want to become food for other predators after being unconscious. Therefore, when this meerkat was fighting this bell viper, it was very careful not to let this venomous snake bite its body.
And this viper wanted very much to bite the meerkat's body. Because as long as it bites the meerkat's body, it can inject its venom into the meerkat's body.
If that's the case, this meerkat can be stunned by this belly viper. This viper can take the opportunity to escape.
In fact, it doesn't matter if it's a meerkat or a badger. Although they are the natural enemies of venomous snakes. But that doesn't mean that meerkats and badgers can defeat poisonous snakes in every battle.
In the African savannah, the relationship between any natural enemy and prey does not necessarily mean that the natural enemy is strong and the prey is weak. In a sense, predators and prey compete with each other.
Natural enemies may not necessarily be able to defeat prey, and prey may not necessarily be killed by natural enemies. This is true for both small and large animals. There is also a mutual balance of power between natural enemies and prey.
Just like the meerkat and the dense badger. Although, they are the natural enemies of venomous snakes. But that doesn't mean that they can kill the poisonous snake casually when they see it. When the venomous snakes saw these two animals, they were so frightened that they could do nothing, or in other words, they immediately turned around and ran away.
In fact, when any predator hunts, it is a battle, a contest between natural enemies and prey. No prey will remain helpless in front of natural enemies. When any prey encounters a natural enemy, it will definitely rise up to resist, or even actively attack its own natural enemy.
The same is true for smaller animals like meerkats and dense badgers. Although, they are the natural enemies of venomous snakes. But venomous snakes are not very afraid when they encounter them. He won't run away immediately.
Of course, venomous snakes are generally reluctant to provoke animals such as meerkats and badgers that are immune to venomous snake venom.
But no matter what, venomous snakes will never be able to catch them in front of meerkats and badgers, and they will definitely work hard to resist.
The same goes for meerkats and badgers. They also face certain risks when hunting venomous snakes. Because the venom of poisonous snakes can still stun them.
If a large amount of venom from a venomous snake enters the body of a meerkat or badger, it is possible to poison these two small animals to death. Therefore, whether they are meerkats or badgers, they must be very careful when hunting venomous snakes.
