Meerkat and Jackal

On the final morning of my visit to South Africa's Great Karoo, I spotted a meerkat den out in a barren field.  All of the meerkats I had seen in this area were extremely shy, and my guide didn't think I'd have any luck photographing them on foot, but I had a half hour to kill and thought it was worth a try.

I walked out until I felt I was at a reasonable distance without getting too close, and settled in to wait.  I had to sit absolutely still for about 20 minutes, but it paid off, as the meerkats eventually felt comfortable enough with my presence to start peeking out.  They were slowly emerging and standing higher and higher on the mound, and I was looking forward to photographing the entire family...

...when a jackal appeared out of nowhere and trotted through the frame.

Of course, the meerkats vanished.  The jackal didn't even pay them any heed, and it actually walked very close to me without giving me a look.  At least it gave me this "photobomb" before moving on.

Canon 1DX
Canon 600mm + 1.4x
ISO 800
1/640th
f/7.1

Max