Meerkats aren't your typical cute, furry rodents. These desert dwellers are members of close-knit communities where everyone pitches in to look out for predators and teach the young. When they aren't looking for a bite to eat or grooming each other's fur, however, meerkats can be lethally competitive. What is it about these African critters that leaves us so enthralled? See more »

Mealtime in the Kalahari Desert isn't exactly an all-you-can-eat buffet. Meerkats eat what they can get -- even poisonous scorpions. Why doesn't the venom hurt them? See more »

When it comes to lending a helping paw, meerkats are quite altruistic. Strangely, they evolved from the mongoose -- a real loner. What gives? See more »

She's a vicious social climber, willing to do anything to get to the top. In her quest to be queen, she's snubbed girls and stolen their men. Oh, yes -- and she's a meerkat. See more »

From sonnets to Skype, humans have been perfecting communication for centuries. Meerkats have their own ways of pointing out danger, food and even happiness. See more »

If you've been sprayed by a skunk, you probably ended up in a bathtub filled with tomato juice. But is there any truth to this treatment, or should we debunk the skunk? See more »

If the animal world were school, otters would be those kids who never leave the playground. Always begging for five more minutes of recess, otters take playtime very seriously. See more »

Young meerkat pups pass their days in the Kalahari Desert by playing. But it's not all fun and games: Playtime makes them vulnerable to predators. So why persist? See more »

Badger, a rather short, thickset, fur-bearing mammal. Badgers have extremely powerful forelegs with long claws, which they use to dig their burrows. See more »

Ermine, any weasel whose fur turns white in winter. The term usually refers to the short-tailed weasel, or stoat (Mustela erminea), of Eurasia and North America. See more »