Playtime with Uncle!!!

The babies are now about 6 weeks old and exploring the enclosure on their own or under the surveillance of the group.

The two healthy pups often engage in all kinds of boisterous play, jumping, wrestling, bitting...

Their little sister will often play by herself, but sometimes she is also included in all kinds of play.

The babies enjoy biting into ALL body parts of the adults... and they still have to learn that not each and every pink nipple will give milk, which is particularly painful for the males ;-)

The little handicaped meerkat (I named her Sayuri - little lily - after the book "Memoires of a Geisha") is making progress, too. Yesterday she tried to stand up on her hind legs and fell over almost instantly, but she tried!

Most of the time I watched her, she was either digging furiously or eating. It looks like she enjoys doing things on her own. When she was digging, one of her littermates jumped onto her, trying to engage her into play, but she simply kept on digging.

Here she was given her vitamin-shot, she looks, like she didn`t enjoy it too much, though.

I think she might develop a similar character like her stub-tailed Uncle Stummelschwänzchen - stubby tail. He also likes to be on his own, to sit by himself etc.

He can often be seen outside, when everybody else is already inside under the heat lamps, or he is inside, alone under the heat lamps, while everybody else is outside...

Who also loves to play with the babies are their Uncles Orlok and Plattohr (flat ear). Usually these two could be seen to engage in all kinds of wrestling matches etc. Now with the babies, both can be seen to play with them. The babies enjoy lunging at them or biting into their tails or legs.

Sometimes one of the parents will overlook these plays. If things are geting too rough, they will intervene.