Meerkat Sentry Denies Napping on Duty, Blames Very Bright Sun

A meerkat on sentry duty at the edge of the dunes has firmly denied falling asleep at his post, insisting that his eyes were closed on Tuesday afternoon only because the sun was, in his words, extremely bright and coming from an unusual angle. The incident lasted around forty seconds. During that time, according to three witnesses who were digging for beetles below, he swayed gently, leaned to the left and made a small contented noise.

Sentry duty is taken very seriously in the mob. The guard climbs the highest point available, usually a termite mound or the lower branch of a thorn bush, stands tall on his back legs and watches the sky and the horizon while everyone else forages with their heads down. The job comes with a steady, quiet call that tells the diggers below that all is well. Several members of the mob reported that the call on Tuesday had become noticeably slower, before stopping altogether.

The sentry's account has been challenged. A senior female, who has led the mob for four seasons, pointed out that the sun on Tuesday was in the same place it had been on Monday, and on every other day she could remember. She also noted that the sentry had eaten a particularly large scorpion shortly before his shift, which she described as a well-known cause of bright sun.

The sentry, for his part, maintains that he was vigilant throughout, and that his eyes were merely resting while his ears did the work. He pointed out that no eagle arrived during the forty seconds in question, which he feels speaks for itself. Asked whether this might have been luck, he looked at the horizon for a long time and said nothing.

The mob has now introduced a new arrangement. Sentries will do shorter shifts, will be relieved by a volunteer at the first sign of swaying and will not be permitted to eat scorpions of above-average size before going on duty. The pups, who have been playing a game called sleepy guard ever since, have been asked to stop, and have not.

The story is invented, but the job is real. Meerkats living in groups in the deserts of southern Africa really do post a sentinel on a high spot while the rest of the group digs for food. The sentinel makes quiet calls while watching, which researchers have described as a way of telling the foragers that someone is keeping watch, and it gives loud alarm calls when danger appears. Different calls can signal whether the threat is coming from the air or on the ground.

The arrangement is not strictly organised, and nobody draws up a rota. Studies of wild meerkats suggest that the animals most likely to go on guard are the ones that have already eaten well, which makes sense, because a hungry meerkat has more reason to keep digging. The sentinel is also well placed to run for a burrow first if a predator comes. So a meerkat on a mound is not simply sacrificing itself for the group. It is full, it is watchful, and it is very much looking after its own interests too.