When it comes to small, burrowing animals, meerkats get a lot of love.
You wouldn’t think that a desert-dwelling member of the mongoose family with such a limited habitat range would get quite so much worldwide attention, but I present three arguments for how these guys gained their fame: The Lion King , Meerkat Manor , and the fact that they are just plain stinking cute.
RELATED STORIES
Case closed.
Thanks to their popularity, we know a lot about the little guys. They live in large families, digging huge networks of burrows to keep everyone safe from predators.
At any sign of danger, they hide in their tunnels until the alert has passed.
You’d think that humans would count as a possible danger, but as these pics prove, that’s not always the case.
A Twitter user named Lucy shared the photos of her electrician dad’s “assistants” during a job.
You see, her dad is an electrician at a zoo, so sometimes the work needs to be done inside animal enclosures.
Perhaps living in a zoo has made the meerkats more trusting of humans, because while Dad was fixing something in their enclosure, the cuties had to investigate.
They climbed in and around his tool bag, playing with the stuff inside.
Maybe another animal might have scampered off once they realized they were spotted, but when presented with objects, they just kept on indulging their curiosity.
They even “helped” hold the light steady for him!
In an interview with Bored Panda, Lucy explained that most of the animals in the zoo are pretty chill, so her dad will comfortably work in the enclosures while they’re present.
Though many may wander over to see what he’s doing, the meerkats are the most interactive and curious.
And adorable. Can’t forget that.
h/t: Bored Panda
