Not merely one Meerkat…

…but several!  Today dear friend B treated me to my Christmas present (always worth waiting for something special) which was a Meerkat Feeding Experience at Banham Zoo.
It was just fabulous to be able to sit in the enclosure with these delightful creatures.  The keeper had a pot of live meal worms which she was putting on our laps and the meerkats climbed all over us to get to their favourite food.  We were told not to stroke them (which was just so tempting) but they were climbing all over my hands anyway, so I had a chance to feel how soft their fur was.   Apparently, if stroked they can confuse fingers with mealworms and may bite (which one did actually…but happily didn’t break my skin…they certainly have sharp teeth).  The group were all male with one female who was a new mother and her first two broods sadly died as she didn’t know what to do with them when they were born.  She had got the hang of parenting by her third brood though and one of her babies was in the enclosure with us.
An interesting fact about Meerkats…the skin on their tummies is black, so if they are cold they will lie on their backs to soak up the warmth of the sun, if hot they will lie on their tummies in the cool sand and as the skin on their back is white it will reflect the sun away from them.
The extra is a parrot who was one of a pair flying around during the ‘birds of Prey’ flying display that we went to in the afternoon.  Amongst many other things we saw a pair of beautiful otters, some very noisy kookaburras, two stunning Snow Leopards and some extremely elegant Giraffes.
I have mixed feelings about animals in zoos, but I was impressed with how well they were looked after and the important conservation work that is carried out.
A memorable day indeed!