Hi All - I'm probably suffering from name confusion again - whats new!!! We just saw the episode here in Ireland where Suggs gave his life while saving Nugget and Beaker. Was that Suggs or has he another name???? If I remember correctly wasn't he one of Flower's last litter??
It was "Simon" in the US. It's a created story line- it never happened in reality in that time period. The MM writers wanted to just showcase the selfless nature of meerkat life. Other meerkats were shown; it was mostly Flava Flav (?), I think. No Whiskers died in order to protect the two pups.
The meerkat wasnt suggs. Here he was called simon. The real suggs had followed his cousin Tina Sparkle and was one of the 6 hoax. He was last seen in november 07.
Suggs, and Tina Sparkle (the original Sophie, Mozart's daughter) left the Whiskers to join a small, four membered wild group that was first observed in December 2006, the Hoax in very early 2007. Suggs roved in September, and October 2007, and he was declared last seen in November 2007. He was about a year old.
Tina Sparkle was the last member left, when the three wild males, and Suggs (who was last seen) abandoned the two females (the other was Mau Mau, the DF who disappeared). Her tracking collar was removed, and she went north toward the border of S. Africa, and Botswana, outside the KMP area. She was probably pregnant at the time.
The other Hoax males joined other groups, or reappeared as independent rovers. Suggs just disappeared. It's possible that he died, especially taking into consideration his young age.
Tina Sparkle as a solitary, pregnant female would have had to join a group almost immediately in order to survive.
The Suggs in season 4 was not really Suggs, it was a fictional storyline. The real Suggs Whiskers joined / helped form Hoax with Tina Sparkle (original MM sophie) he dispersed. His fate is not known.
They said Suggs died in season3? I don't remember. That's MM for you though! When he left Hoax he was not seen again, given his age he was not very experienced but it's nice to hold a little hope for him.
Suggs was mentioned only in the first 2 episodes of season 3. He left with Tina Sparkle when he was 4 months old he was never mentioned in the rest of season 3 and never mentioned in season 4. If meerkat manor said Suggs died as a pup one of the few things they do good at is atleast no bringing back members Blossum, Len, Squigy ect. Izzy and Busta( What I noticed was it is pronounced Buster on meerkat manor) were in a play fight in one season than never mentioned again. Suggs disapeared at a year old he lacked experience to survive on his own most likely he died because the hoax males roved sometime together for a short period of time then split Suggs was with them he just doesnt join a diffrent group with them.
Technicly( I think i spelt that wrong badly) Suggs was one of the last pups born to Flower He disapeared around the same time in the UK said he died so it may fit in. Busta was the last pup borned to Flower that survived.
I guess it was nice at least to have some 'closure' on a character (rather than have several siblings play the one meerkat) pity he was not featured much.
Currently there are only 8 offspring of Flower left in the observed population..
Daughters: Monkulus, Hawkeye, Cruise, Flo, Billy & Ella Sons: Ningaloo & Alonzo Mourning.
I wish MM would be more consistent in names: I wouldn't mind a change if they only did it once. Then we could follow the same meerkats from when they come out of the burrow until they disperse or die, which is the reason most people watch MM, at least on a regular basis. They are attached to the characters.
Most of Flower's children have left the area or passed away, and it has not yet been three years since she died. Times change fast in the kalahari. But despite this loss Flower now has around 100 grandchildren/great-grandchildren! There are probably even more in wild groups, given the roving skills of her sons and grandsons, as well as the hope that Finn and her group survive somewhere.
I expected Flowers children to be very few by this time its life. Hollys children while not as sucsesfull slowly disapeared or died mostly the only one that survived besides Flower that lived years later is Rita and thats because she started a group. Most likely Mitchs coaliton found a group very unlikely that 4 adult male meerkats couldnt join a group or form one the same goes with Orinoco and Logan hopefully the Nequoia are Logan/Orionocos group
Ive not heard of 'Rita' outside of MM, or a 'real' Rita born in Whiskers.. Do you mean Risca? she was not Holly's though she was either Brambles or Piglets offspring (Holly's siblings who helped form Whiskers) Flower's Cousin.
I was under the impression that Mitch roved away alone not in a group of 4 or have I missed something?
I'm looking forward to the new LH to see if any of Nequoia are known to us.. I am thinking though that this group maybe the remenant of something else such as Java.. theres nothing to say that habituated Meerkats would not have joined though.
Zaphod that was my typo sorry yeah I meant Risca. Mitch was last seen shortly befoew Pozzo, Maladoy, and Jogu were last seen. Flava Flav was last seen after leaving the aztecs and all that. The point is Mitch could of met up with Pozzo and Maladoy the point is meerkats who are last seen apear up months later what if Mitch had met up with Maladoy and Pozzo and started the Nequoia? or what about Flava Flav and Jogu? Just because they leave the reserve doesnt mean they dont return. The group seems about the right size for a group like that. The new groups besides the Baobab arent very large they are a healthy amount.
Flava Flav,Seacrest,And Jogu played the same meerkat over and over agin.Mitch was Mitch in season 1,Seacrest/Flava Flav/Jogu in season 2,And Machu Picchu in season 3.Season 4 he was played by Seacrest.(Or Flava Flav & Jogu.) Pozzo was only shown once in season 1,So it's likely he whent roveing. Maladoy is McMurphy(I know I spelled it wron.)in MM.Risca was the DF at the Gatttaca,And was Flower's older sister.
We saw Risca in season 1, I don't think she was mentioned by name though. We also a little footage of a few males, most likely were Dominant Male Izit, Vervain and DeeJay Vivian. Stinker (Sondhiem in US)- Izit's deposed father featured later on roving from Gattaca and mating with Mozart. Risca's Daughter Zorilla (Nikita) and Klentjie (Rosie-US Klenky-UK) also featured in season4.
If Mitch did meet up with those males he and they would have had to travel a very large distance to reach Nequoia's territory.. a lot can happen over time. We simply can not rule anything out at this stage.
Mitch as Whiskers DM will mainly be played by Machu-Picchu because that was the 'real' DM at the time. Pronker mentioned that footage of Logan was used (most probably on sentry duty I would imagine)
As Zaphod mentioned above Risca was Flower's cousin, not her sister. Flower was born to DF Holly and Risca to her subordinate sister Brambles.
Mitch has been played by most of the older Whiskers males at some point. Zarathustra, Machu Pichu, Logan, Flava Flav, probably Pozzo, Mitch himself... the s2 film of Mitch roving with Yossarian and "Big Will" (probably Zarathustra) was most likely the Young Ones rover Sepp, or maybe one of the other older Whisker males who roved with Uncle Youssy (or for some of them father) a lot. Vialli's son Big Will, Flower's sons Stato, Pookie and Pozzo, Badiel/Tosca's sons Arrested Development and Bad Boy Bubby... they all tagged along from time to time. Flava Flav did as well but for a long time when he was young his roving was limited after he was caught and nearly killed by Commandos males on his first trip. Clearly he got over that though...
The Gattaca appeared on MM, but no names were mentioned. Risca was shown as the DF of the group, and a few other meerkats were shown as well. The Gattaca were a small group, and they were last seen soon after because the meerkats suffered from TB.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by sophie711: Technicly( I think i spelt that wrong badly) Suggs was one of the last pups born to Flower He disapeared around the same time in the UK said he died so it may fit in. Busta was the last pup borned to Flower that survived.[/QUOTE
I don't think thats right, Liz survived the caped cobra that killed Flower and is mentioned in season 4 grooming Zaphod.
2ferretmom, MM made some changes to the story of Flower's death to make it more acceptable to fans. The book "Meerkat Manor: Flower of the Kalahari" by Tim Clutton-Brock (the founder and one of the heads of the research project) tells the true story.
Flower was still pregnant when she was bitten by the snake (which was actually probably a Puff Adder, though it is unknown; no one was there that night and no one saw the snake). She aborted her litter before she died. THey said that she was defending pups because it sounds better than knowing that her death was the case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The fact that she was bitten on the head does suggest she may have been attacking the snake though; her family was down the burrow too and she was always brave. But it may have struck her before she even knew it was there.
Liz was created by symbolize Flower's legacy in all the pups she raised.
The film of Liz on the show is probably either Axel or one of the eight pups born in a mixed litter to Flower's daughters in the week after her death.
To clarify, the researchers/camera crew were not with the group for the evening of January 25, 2007. Sometime that evening or night Flower was bitten. When the researcher/camera crew came Flower was already very weak and had lost her litter. They loosened her radio collar and put her in the shade. Zaphod came over and groomed her. The rest of the group was nervous but it was still in the midst of the drought (MM said it had ended by that point, but it had not: if Flower had not been weakened by the lack of food she might have survived) and they were hungry. Slowly they began to move out to forage. Flower left her shady spot and tried to follow, but could not and went to lie down in a burrow entrance. Zaphod was the last to leave. She lost consciousness shortly after and slowly faded away. The rest of the group kept stopping and calling to her, but she could not follow. Rocket Dog began leading the group the next day.
Cause and effect go hand in hand as we obviously know, ive often wondered for the likes of Flower (and any DF) if she had survived, I wonder how Whiskers would look right now? Aztecs, Boabab, VanHelsing, Toyota probably would not have formed.. if they did they would certainly be very different. I guess if we look at Whiskers just as an individual group, yes, they lost their DF but as far as decendant's of her go they are certainly numerous! and they just keep multiplying.
Theories and what if's on this kind of thing are so interesting.. I think.
If Flower had survived, the Whiskers would have been very big. They were when she died. She would have evicted all the older SFs, and later the younger ones, and some of them would create their own groups. Maybe not the same groups that we know, with the same composition, but similar ones. The older males would have roved away in search of unattached females. Flower would have passed away eventually, and either way she would have left a lot of offspring behind.
