Forget guard dogs, if you want an animal that watches out for you, meerkats are the way to go.
The meerkat is smaller than most of the other species in its family, the mongooses (yes, mongooses, not mongeese). In India, mongooses have been known to fight off cobra.
Meerkats tend not to come across cobras as they are in southern Africa. Being small and ground dwelling, they make tasty morsels for birds of prey and jackals, however.
This has made the meerkat a social animal – strength in numbers. They are well known for always being on the lookout for danger. While some in the mob (the name for a group of meerkat, somewhat ominously to anyone who’s read Mario Puzo) forage or play, others act as sentinels, watching after the group. If danger approaches, they’ll give a series of warning calls, either for “run for the burrows” or “all in”.
The Diplomacy ‘Meerkat’
In Diplomacy, the ‘Meerkat’ is a player who is always looking for trouble. They’re cautious, defensive players, and they never trust something they can’t bite into to see if it breaks their teeth.
Diplomacy is a game which encourages betrayal, of course, so you can understand a certain level of caution. This is especially so when playing remotely and online. The chances are you won’t know the person you’re playing with well, unless you stick to playing against the same players. And, often, online you’ll find yourself playing an anonymous game, simply because you can.
Most of you will have faced this situation. You’re in a game with people you don’t know. Are they trustworthy? How do they play? What kind of Diplomacy Animal are you up against? Now add anonymity to the mix: you don’t even know who they are! How can you trust that person?
Often, in a Dip game, success comes when an alliance can work together quickly. Speed is the essence of success. When you find yourself in a game with a Meerkat, you’re going to be frustrated. The only thing you can be sure about is that they’re going to protect themselves against a possible attack from you no matter what.
Speed? Forget it! They don’t trust anything or anyone. They will slow everything down they can because, well, they are risk-averse.
They also want to maintain a balanced alliance, again to a fault. They don’t see an alliance where one player has more SCs than the other as being good for both players because it gives the other player a chance to stab them, doesn’t it? Well, not necessarily, but – remember – everything’s a threat!
THE DIPLOMATICON 
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