A call from my son to let me know that three young meerkats had been spotted in a certain area had me dashing to get my camera and rush over there… and it was a rewarding dash.
The meerkat can become very tame and accepts human proximity fairly quickly… where these three came from no one seems to know, but they seem quite self sufficient as I witnessed them feeding…
they are veracious eaters and I witnessed many a beetle, centipede and even a frog being devoured.
They soon accepted my presence and even moved around with me when I moved. In fact I wish there had of been another photographer with me. One sat next to me on my camera bag and posed as though he wanted to take over the sentries duties. In the wild there can be up to 30 of these meerkats in a “mob” “gang” or “clan” and when feeding one will always be on sentry duty for about an hour before another takes over…
It is almost as though I became part of the clan and when seeking shade they did the same…
But this little guy was quite keen to perform the sentry duty…
Sorry folks I’m going to bombard you with photos of these little ones for a short while as I took nearly 900 photos and when deleting the “baddies” I expected it to come down to 200 odd photos, but the new camera is too good it only came down to 598 …. much better odds than my old camera… now I have to learn it is not necessary to take so many with the new camera…
but 900 photos in a two hour period is not too bad… an average of 1 every 8 seconds… what was I doing the other 7 seconds ??????
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
So cool! I think meerkats are festinating creatures, and how lucky you are to be able to observe in such proximity!
900 photos? Imagine if we were back in the days of film? Digital sure does free up a photographer, doesn’t it?
Oh Bulldog – you are so funny! What were you doing the other 7 seconds, for sure!! 🙂
They look like they are very interesting to watch and rather cute … in a lethal sort of way. Their little faces look rather mischievous. The little guy on sentry guide is my favourite 🙂
Mine too Joanne…. he kept coming and standing next to me as though to relieve me of sentry duty
Oh what a wonderful experience!! Wouldn’t want to be in your shoes to do the editing, an experience like this would make it impossible to choose a favorite. Look forward to seeing what you choose.
They are so adorable! Bring on the meerkat photos. 🙂
They’re coming…
Quanto sono carine queste creature, io sono contenta se ci bombardi con le loro foto.
Accipicchia però, dicono a me che ne scatto tante, ma tu sei insuperabile 😀
Ciao, Pat
Thanks Pat
Such cute critters! I love the sitting up one the best. 🙂
They are just the most interesting littlre guys
Meerkats are soooo cute, bring on the photos! 😀
Thanks Jewels… that I will be doing
They are so darn cute.
Aren’t they just
They have such sweet faces and beautiful markings. It is a shame there wasn’t a photographer nearby to capture you as part of the clan. I know how honored I felt to be allowed to be so close to a sandhill crane last year.
One feels so special when you can experience an up close encounter
They look so cute. For one reason or the other, I am reminded of the movie Ice Age. Ah, I must be mistaking them for the sloth.
Are you not thinking of that movie Lion King?
No, I think I was thinking of Ice Age. No, no. Madagscar – the one with the penguins and the zebra and the lion. The animals escaped from the zoo and got in a forest with animals that looked like the ones in your photo.
That’s it…. Madagascar. ..
I’m learning to that I don’t need to take as many photos with my new camera, unless I’m purposely playing around or finding that right angle!!! 🙂
I like to play around Cee… but with animals and birds you can miss so much if you take less….
I love Meerkats bulldog. What a great post and it would have been a pleasure to be able to photograph you with them. Both Marks and I have only just started our digital photography journey having been film photographers all this time. It is wonderful to be able to take shot after shot and delete what you don’t need or want. Enjoy the weekend and keep on shooting 😉
Joey
Thanks Joey… my old camera tended to give about a 20% acceptable keep… thenew one is giving much better so I need to take less… but then again one can miss so much with animals and birds… sowill justkeep on taking at my own pace. … no rules to follow anyway…
Meerkats are very well loved in the UK because of an insurance comparison TV commercial. I think it’s only in the UK anyway! We have an insurance comparison website called Compare The Market, and about six years ago they started this advertising campaign on the TV with talking meerkats, saying that people were getting confused and accidentally going to a Compare the Meerkat site rather than Compare the Market. The meerkats have Russian accents for some reason. Anyway, it’s been going on for several years, with stuffed toys being made of those meerkat characters from the adverts etc,, and people quoting the ads and everything. You’d have to see it to understand! Unless it’s not just the UK, and then you might already know about it!
Don’t know the ad. ..but I think there is a very popular TV series called meerkat manor on national geo that is so damn good…. I just loved spending 2 hrs with them… could easily have spent more if cicumstances didn’t require I move on….
Well first of all…your finger must be tired from snapping all of those images…second of all, the camera was meant to be yours..quite the team with wonderful results!
Such a wonderful opportunity..JEALOUS!!
I wonder, since they seemed to think you were papa meerkat..maybe you should do some exercises and see if they’ll do them along with you…I bet they would…after all, you’re Bulldog!
I loved these images!!!
Most photo’s were on 3 frames per sec in bursts of about 10 a time… the camera allows so many more so some burst were 25 shots specially when one caught a frog and firstly a starling wanted to try and steal it…then one of the others ran over to share…. big fight…
I did some talking to them and one whistle was obviously close to a warning signal as they would scurry close to me and look skyward. .. they must have seen me as the sentry…. damn it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. …
What an experience to have had….one that you’ll treasure, I’m sure. So neat that they just adopted you as one of their own. 🙂
Wow – lucky you! Would like to see more photos. THey’re beautifull.
Adorable creatures, but that’s a lot of pictures!
When the going is good you take the photos…. they were very active digging and feeding…. I caught most of it even a starling trying to steal the food from the one….
… so they seemingly trusted your presence because you weren’t trying to steal their food.
Not yet so poor that I need to eat beetles and frogs… lol
You beat me ‘hands down’ when it comes to Meerkat photos, Bulldog.
I just….love….the little critters, but I must admit I haven’t taken a photo of one at our Zoo in a year or two (but then, up until the other weekend I hadn’t been to the zoo in about 8 months according to my photo folders.
Did you manage to catch them in a fight? They are vicious little critters when fighting and I think you should be wary they don’t bite.
Please share some more images…but I don’t mean all 598 !
Thanks Vicki… I’ve seen them fighting and yes they are vicious. … but these were very loving… animals don’t bite the bulldog !…
As you take so many shots in a session, you must have a large memory card. It must be fascinating watching the meerkats and trying to photograph their antics.
The card I have is one of the biggest… can store 4500 photos at 40 megabytes per second…. so I press the button and not worry further
Hey, it’s Timon!! Where’s Pumba?
He’s there too
Aww, you’re so lucky :).
They are adorable! Seems like the camera is earning her praises!
That it is …thanks
You can make a film out of it, Bulldog. We just love them. They look so furriendly…must be all in the name that they are 😀 Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend 🙂 ❤
Thanks… you are going to get a lot more
Please do give us more pictures, I love those guys. My favourite animals next to monkeys, and ring tailed lemurs. and did i mention monkeys….
I would have loved to be with you and see them real. ♥
It wss a wonderful experience and they got used to me very quickly…
A photo every 8 seconds?? Wow, you are committed bulldog! Cute little creatures, thanks for sharing them! ❤
Diana xo
Thanks Diana… A lot are taken at 3 frames a second… but the average seems scary…
Awesome – only ever seen at a zoo, how awesome to see in the wild.
Thanks Jan … I even have a photo with the onesnose on my lens. …
wow that is up close and personal! You know when I win lotto I’m coming to visit you! lol
Well, if I had to guess what you were doing the other 7 seconds, you were probably speaking “meerkat-ese” with these cute little critters. Yes, keep these images coming … I love them!
Thanks Reggie, actually I was trying to communicate with them… thats why I have so many photos of their faces with puzzled looks on them
They would be FUN to photograph and watch.
They are so active scurrying all over the place, hardly ever still
Great photos Rob … That is what I miss so much – so much to see and photograph … Keep them coming – 900 is nothing !!
Thanks Jane… I can imagine you must miss the wild things of Africa, having lived where you did
how utterly delightful! Glad the new camera is causing such problems 😀
Thanks…. a nice problem to have
Bombard away! A meerkat siting is major, I can’t think of any other creature to compare it to in the Atlanta area. Your last shot is wonderful…love this little guy. Gal.
Thank you .. it is my first captures of the meerkat, so took enough…