Prairie Dogs!

[chicken]

Click on images to view bigger versions:

They were just hangin' out in a "managed" Prairie Dog sanctuary, which really didn't seem managed -- there were no park ranger-type people, and the little critters were free to roam around on the bike path and park right next to their little acreage, and in fact probably could've run right out into the oncoming traffic on the road next to it (but they didn't). This is just down the street from my mom's house in Fort Collins.





movie clip: Prairie Dog 'calling' (1.4 MB Quicktime Movie, 320x240) -- right-click or Ctrl-Click (one-mouse systems) to save and view. Do NOT try to stream it in your web browser, or it might be kind of slow. Also, note that if you amp up your volume all the way, you can hear the piercing 'chirp' call that the prairie dog makes after it rears up on its hind legs. I believe this is how they communicate across the prairie, from one burrow to the next.

Comments

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

They are so cute!

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

No kidding, they are adorable -- although they are remarkably camoflage-y. We had to bring out the video camera and then take screencaps, because it is impossible to get a good shot of one of them with a cell phone camera -- they just 'blend' too well.

[cadence-k.livejournal.com]

They are so cute! I love prairie dogs!

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

They do seem quite interesting. I just love watching them pop up on their hind legs and 'call' to each other.

[saifai.livejournal.com]

Cute little critters. *petpet*

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it would probably be a bad idea to actually pet them. Rabies and all. But yes, cute!

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

They are very cute. I remember driving through lands with only prairie dogs to break it up and squeeing the whole way and annoying everyone else in the car.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Didn't the other people in the car think the prairie dogs were cute??

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

No, they were talking about how annoying they must be for the farmers and about how to best shoot them. (This was a car ride with my family.)

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Gosh, oh dear. What does that say about your family? *sigh and hugs*

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

It's says that they're from farming stock. When I was five, my pet calf ended up on the dinner table. It's just one of those things. *hugs*

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

How very appealing. I saw a weasel today, but I have to admit the prairie dogs top the cuteness scale, weasels being more weaselly.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, weasels have longer, thinner faces, whereas prairie dogs have that rounded 'squirrel' look to their cheeks. Quite fetching.

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

Weasels move in a very threatening way too. Incredibly fast, and undulating. Their whole look just screams nest robbing, baby bird eating, rabbit slaughtering savagery.

But they have very cute ears. I think they have the prairie dogs there.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, I'll take cat ears over either prairie dog or weasel ears. *shudders at the thought of weasel savagery*

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

Them things are varmints out in West Texas. Why, a farmer two fields over from my daddy's farm lost several acres to them crazy prairie dogs.

They are soooo cute though.

If you're ever in Lubbock, (and why the hell you would be, I have no idea) they have a very nice Prairie Dog town.

Did you know someone invented a (supposedly) safe Prairie Dog vacuum?

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

"Varmint"!! Bwahahaha. Oh dear.

Is that what they call them, Prairie Dog "Towns"? Cool.

And what is a Prairie Dog vacuum? Something with which to vacuum (clean) their fur, or something with which to scoop up entire Prairie Dogs into the belly of the vacuum?

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

It's an actual vacuum that (I'm sorry) vacuums the little prairie dogs out of their burrows. It's supposedly totally safe, keeps them alive, and then they get relocated to a "Town" that wants them. I don't know how well it works:( It's supposedly humane and non-lethal.

And I think some of them get sold to pet stores to be adopted, which is a crap idea. Prairie dogs ain't anyone's kind of dog. I have actually heard of people adopting them like ferretts and raccoons, but it seems like a very very bad idea to me. They just aren't friendly. I used to try to stand kind of close to their *town* without getting *too close* and they didn't seem to like it. But it was fun to ride my bike down or walk down and watch them carrying on. I loved it when I was a kid, but now as an adult, when I go for walks near my dads house, I'm like, "Oh yeah, hey dogs," and I don't even look. (I've become cynical!)

I think that farmer would be smart to try to get his *town* protected and get some tax dollars refunded to him. He doesn't have to feed them or water them. I think he's prevented from trying to kill them, or maybe they're hard to kill. I can't remember.

They do create a network of caverns underground very quickly. Maybe they could be used by the NAVY, NSA, or the CIA???? They could go to that same school the Dolphins go to :)

I think Prairie Dogs and Meerkats are just too cute. I wonder if they're distantly related. The Meerkats do more gesticulating with their hands, but they seem so similar to me, anyway. I may need to investigate that:)

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, Meerkats are not as closely related to prairie dogs as one might think. According to Wikipedia, meerkats are more closely related to the Mongoose, and are of the order 'Carnivora' rather than 'Rodentia' (of which prairies dogs are members).

:-(

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

That's a shame. They look so much alike.

Well, Carnivora, Rodentia, a bunch of them, or two, if you were unconscious, could eat you. Skery.

They're so cute though. I would love to have a meerkat or prairie dog pet. I just don't like the idea of being gnawed or scratched.

Oh this is soooooo off-topic. My little dog Zooey, the 4-6 pound Maltese mix (give or take her time of the month, hee)usually has *one* moment with my leg every evening at bedtime. (Over the cover, please.) Anyway, last night she was *insatiable.* She had relations with my leg 7 times!!!

Of course, her relations last 5 -10 seconds, but she usually passes out or gets very sedated afterwards.

She just wouldn't stop last night! I had to fuss at her and make her sad. She even got off the bed and slept on the floor. (To punish me.)

I called the vet, and he said, "If that's not her normal behavior; it's not normal." Huh??

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

So I take it Zooey isn't "fixed", then? Goodness. She must have major doggie hormones.!

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

I was joking about *her time of the month*. Hee. She weighs 4-6 pounds, depending on how she's feeling.

She's been spayed since I got her from the SPCA in 1998. I guess she's just a little horny doggie. She did it again last night, but she finally got sleepy and nodded off.

She gets more than I do!

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

Hmm, so meerkats are closer to real dogs than to prairie dogs!

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

Seems like they should be called meerdogs, huh? And they stand up and gesticulate. Maybe that's like a dog begging?

I saw some at the San Diego Zoo and they stood up and begged so pathetically and pleaded with their tiny hands.

Soooo cute.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

well, they're probably about as closely related to cats as to dogs. They're all Carnivora.