CHAPTER XVI 



DOG-TOWN DIGGINGS 



A OUT thirty years ago a cowboy took 

 me out to see "The big Dog-town." 

 This metropolis was in the heart of 

 the great plains near the Kansas-Colorado line. 

 For five hours we rode westward along the 

 southern limits of the town. It extended on 

 over the horizon more than two miles wide and 

 about forty miles long. A town with a popu- 

 lation of two million ! 



Its visible inhabitants would have astounded 

 a census-taker or a dog-catcher. Thousands 

 of prairie dogs were yipping and barking more 

 than sixty times a minute, and stub tails were 

 whizzing away at the same time. We rode out 

 among the crowded and protesting dogs and 

 stopped to watch them. A number ducked 

 into their holes. 



Around each hole was an earthy collar less 

 than two feet across and four or five inches high. 

 At a distance this earthy collar surrounding 

 the hole had the appearance of a low mound. 

 Evidently this mound is to keep out storm water. 



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