44 RODENTS OF IOWA 



6. Distribute a tablespoonful of poisoned oats on the clean, hard 

 ground before the hole. A quart of grain will be sufficient 

 to treat forty holes. Put out in early morning and take 

 special care that the grain is not put on the loose earth 

 of the mound or into the burrows. Do not put out in rainy 

 weather, and take special precautions that other animals, 

 particularly birds, do not reach it. Poisoning is best done 

 in early spring before the vegetation is well along. 



The Prairie-dog in I&wu. The prairie-dog has been reported 

 from a number of localities in Iowa, but in most cases the records 

 are for introduced individuals or colonies. Introduced colonies 

 are reported to have existed at Burlington, and from Jackson 

 township in Sac county a prairie-dog town of about twenty bur- 

 rows was reported in 1900 ; but in both cases it is likely that the 

 individuals were escaped pets or their descendants. A specimen 

 reported to have been killed in Palo Alto county a few years ago, 

 was probably an escaped pet since such an animal had been lost 

 some time before the specimen mentioned was killed. At Logan 

 in Harrison county a specimen of this species was killed in a 

 lumber yard in 1916, but it appears likely that this also was an 

 introduced individual. M. P. Somes reports that he has seen 

 "two small colonies of the prairie-dog between the Missouri River 

 and the C. M. & St. P. R. R. tracks about five miles north of 

 Calliope in Sioux County." Frank C. Pellett says, "Knew of 

 one in Cass county several years ago." 3 



At the present time J. A. Moody of Shenandoah has two small 

 colonies of prairie-dogs on his farm, one colony about one hundred 

 and fifty yards from his home, the other about forty rods dis- 

 tant. He writes as follows regarding the animals: "They were 

 not native of this part but a single pair was sent me some 20 

 years back from Fort Morgan, Colorado. The animals increased 

 rapidly as each mother dog will rear an average of about 

 six young each year. They are inclined to be very domestic and 

 will not wander away from their little towns unless overcrowded. 

 In that case they will seek other parts. . . .Nothing is allowed to 

 grow within the bounds of their colony but grass ; not a weed or a 

 bush is allowed to grow. This is for their own protection. The 

 colony nearest our home contains about thirty, the larger one about 

 a hundred .... If not allowed to become too numerous and colonize 

 on pasture land they will remain there and will not molest the near- 

 by growing crops in any way. For destroying the animals I use 



3 Proc. la. Acad. Sci., XVII, 214, 1910. 



