Who’s Out There? Dog on the Prairie

Imagine being this cute, eating weeds, being quiet and still being hated?

Seems impossible right? I mean just the eating weeds part should be enough to endure this cute little rodent to just about anybody.

AND they are the arch enemy of those nasty voles that eat the roots of all your trees and plants. So why are their numbers diminishing, why do people spend hours trying to suffocate these critters or worse, poison them?

Because they create big holes in the ground. They live underground in a maze of tunnels that include pantries for winter food, a nursery for birthing and a familial connection that rivals that of the closest of human families.

People don’t like holes in their yard. Many people prefer dirt to holes.

I just don’t get it.

These tunnels and holes provide aeration for the ground which keeps weeds at bay and native plants thriving. Research shows that deer, antelope and bison prefer areas where Prairie dogs are plentiful. Prairie dogs can undo the ground hardening that happens by free ranging cows.

Of the three acres that our shop sits on about ½ of it is Prairie Dog homes. Every spot they can, they create a home and adorn our property with antics and play. They keep the ground from getting hard and full of tumbleweed like the neighboring lots.

Each spring as the snow melts the newborns come bounding out of their underground nurseries and say hello to the sun! They chase each other and roll in balls just like a bunch of puppies that have been cooped up in a pen all day.

When we’re lucky enough to get the summer monsoon rains they pay back our hospitality by keeping the weeds low and manageable. While the neighbors have to mow so that the dirt once again shows through, these little pot bellied critters work diligently to eat the fresh leaves off the weeds before they have a chance to grow.

Prairie Dogs don’t eat the roots of our trees, they don’t eat through the irrigation lines for water and they don’t try to chew their way into our buildings. They are the perfect homesteading companion.

Their little tucked ears shaped like a flattened conch shell, provide them with their only source of protection, hearing danger before it has a chance to pounce on them. It seems impossible that they can run as fast as they do as their stubby legs barely keep their bellies on the ground.

They work in community with always a sentry on the lookout for danger while the rest of the community forages for that day’s meal. Scientists have found that they have a complex communication system, where they communicate whether the danger is by land or air.

This Keystone species, because of all the homes and habitat they provide for many other animals, has been poorly misunderstood and shunned.

But I think if people stopped and watched them awhile, they would appreciate the comedy relief they can bring to our days.

But misunderstanding each other and trying to get rid of others that do things we don’t like seems to often be the human way.

How have you made a change in this way of life today?