i6 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



able to survey a wide extent of horizon, and as soon as it sees 

 an intruder, it gives a sharp yelp of alarm, and dives into its 

 burrow, its little feet knocking together with a ludicrous flourish 

 as it disappears. In every direction a similar scene is enacted. 

 Warned by the well-known cry, all the Prairie Dogs within 

 reach repeat the call, and leap into their burrows. Their 

 curiosity, however, is irrepressible, and scarcely have their feet 

 vanished from sight, than their heads are seen cautiously pro- 

 truded from the burrow, and their inquisitive brown eyes 

 sparkle as they examine the cause of the disturbance. 



The Prairie Dog has not the privilege of possessing a home 

 exclusively devoted to its own use, for the Burrowing Owl, 

 sometimes called the Coquimbo Owl (Athene cunicuiaria), and 

 the terrible rattlesnake, take forcible possession of the burrows, 

 and devour the inmates, thus procuring board and lodging at 

 very easy rates. The rattlesnake at all events does so, the 

 bodies of young Prairie Dogs having been found in its stomach. 



On the discovery of owls and rattlesnakes within the burrows 

 of the Prairie Dog, it was generally thought that these incon- 

 gruous beings associated together in perfect harmony, forming 

 in fact a ' Happy Family' below the surface of the ground. The 

 ruthless scalpel of the naturalist, however, effectually dissipated 

 all such romantic notions, and proved that the snake was by no 

 means a welcome guest, but an intruder on the premises, self- 

 billeted on the inmates, like soldiers on obnoxious householders, 

 procuring lodging without permission, and eating the inhabitants 

 by way of board. 



The reason for the presence of the owls is not so evident, 

 though it is not impossible that they may also snap up an occa- 

 sional Prairie Dog in its earliest infancy, while it is very young,, 

 small, and tender. These winged and scaled intruders are not 

 found in all the burrows, though many of the habitations are 

 infested by them. 



The general aspect of the Prairie Dog is not unlike that of 

 its near relative, the Alpine Marmot, so familiar in this country 

 through the mediumship of Savoyard boys, who carry the 

 animal about in a box, and exliibit it for halfpence. 



