"O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy loving-kindness" (Psa. 36:6-7).
Meerkats make their homes in Southern Africa in two wild areas protected from hunters. One place is called Kruger National Park, and the other is called Kalahari Gemsbok Park (named after the deer-like gemsbok, the park's main resident). Sharing these areas are gnus, springboks, hyenas, lions, leopards and ostriches. The Creator has provided them all with ability to adapt to the red sand dunes and hot, open country with its infrequent watering holes.
These reddish-brown squirrel-like animals are members of the mongoose family. They are noted for living in groups of 25 or more. Their life-style is rugged, and their major enemies are eagles, hawks and other birds of prey. Another enemy is the cobra, but the meerkats are usually too quick to be caught and even seem to enjoy teasing these vicious snakes into striking without success until they give up.
Much time is spent searching for their food, consisting of insects scratched from the sand, as well as mice and lizards. While some are searching for food, others frequently stand upright on their hind feet (much like prairie dogs), in groups of a dozen or more, heads tilted back, on the alert for their enemies overhead. If one is seen, a shrill warning is given and all immediately dive into their nearby burrows.
A meerkat is not likely to wander off alone, for the group habit of watching out for each other is really the secret of their survival. Those hunting food make a purring sound, enabling the others always to know where they may be. If one wanders to a spot where the others no longer hear the purr, they call it back.
When food is scarce they move as a group to another location, usually where ground squirrels have already dug out burrows. The meerkats take over without so much as a "thank-you." Twice a year from two to four little ones are born in these individual burrows and kept there for about a month. When allowed outside they find others to play with and are often joined in their fun by older brothers and sisters, as well as the parents, all of whom help in training them.
The clever ways of meerkats, in surviving and even thriving in such barren country, remind us of the wisdom of the Lord God when He created them and adapted them to such unusual conditions.
And this He has done with all His creation, as our above Bible verse indicates. More than that, though, He has provided a home in heaven for every boy and girl, and man and woman, who accepts His loving invitation: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). Have you accepted this invitation?