Aga meerkats rule the roost

23 March 2010, 10:36

Two meerkats, who began life inside a glove on top of an Aga oven in Devon, are about to celebrate their first birthday.

Wren and Rascal, along with a third sibling, were rejected by their mother at the Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park in Devon.

Luckily for the tiny creatures, park owners Jayne Collier and her husband Andrew were on hand to take them in.

Mrs Collier was unable to save the third baby meerkat, but Wren and Rascal have made great progress.

The pair, who were just the size of a finger, spent their first weeks of life inside a glove on top of the Colliers' kitchen Aga.

As they grew they were given free-range of the house, which brought out their destructive side.

Following their natural instincts, the duo spent their days digging and burrowing - scraping out the grouting between the kitchen flagstones and fluffing up the carpet.

And despite their shaky start in life the two certainly weren't timid; they would regularly join the humans for walks around the farm, terrifying the dogs with their sharp teeth.

Eventually the the tear-away twosome were given their own new pen, as they wouldn't now be welcomed back by their original family.

So Wren and Racal are kings of their own domain and can even expect the arrival of two new females to keep them company soon.

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Aga_meerkats_rule_the_roost