THE PRAIRIE-DOG TOWN 



be put in perfect condition and its inmates ready 

 to eat, be sociable and merry. 



These little vegetable-feeding animals of the 

 plains not only eat the green portion of the grass 

 and other prairie plants but the roots as well. 

 After a time, when all the food is consumed 

 around their burrows, they desert them and ex- 

 tend their village by digging new underground 

 houses and making new streets. It is not un- 

 common to find a prairie-dog town covering from 

 five to ten acres of land, or even more. The 

 centre of the town is generally barren of animals. 

 The deserted holes as a rule are occupied by 

 the little burrowing owls. There were a num- 

 ber of these queer little owls in the town ad- 

 joining Sam's farm, two of which he captured 

 and kept in a wooden cage placed over some 

 soft dirt in which the little feathered fellows 

 dug a home. Sam fed them on mice, pieces of 

 meat and insects. There was one owl who had 

 a habit of standing on top of a deserted prairie- 

 dog hillock, blinking its eyes in the sunlight 

 and gravely bowing at Sam whenever he hap- 

 pened to see him. 



There were many rattlesnakes in the vicinity 



[65] 



