PRAIRIE DOGS. 117 



race, were seen upon the horizon. Either not liking 

 our appearance, or too busily employed in their own 

 affairs, they did not deign to pay us a visit. The 

 old character of last night who had volunteered to 

 find out the cause of the alarm, and who was 

 familiarly known as ' the Old Man/ rode ahead, and 

 in the course of the afternoon killed a buffalo bull, 

 which was beyond comparison the largest specimen 

 of the kind I had yet seen, but so low in flesh 

 as to be quite worthless for food. Prairie dogs 

 (Arctomys ludivicianus) were numerous, although 

 not in such numbers as I have seen them further 

 south. 



In some sections of the country the ground is 

 so honeycombed by the holes of these little animals, 

 that it is almost impossible to ride faster than a 

 walk without coming to grief in their subterranean 

 passages, or over the debris which they pile upon 

 the surface. Prairie dogs for by this name 

 these animals are more generally known are per- 

 fect characters in their way Dutch burgomasters 

 among the animal creation. Phlegmatic, cautious, 

 acute, and provident, they take life very easy, 

 appear much addicted to good living, and have a 

 great sense of their own importance. At stated 

 hours they come forth from their retreats, and pay 

 visits to their neighbours. They do not appear to 

 have any predilection for exercise, but, when taking 

 it, exert themselves with so much energy that the 

 beholder cannot help wondering at the activity 



