PRAIRIE DOGS (Cynomys Ludovicianus) 
These animals have received their somewhat inappropriate name 
from the curious way in which they “bark” on the approach of 
danger, but in reality there is nothing dog-like about them, for they 
are social burrowing Rodents or Gnawing Mammals, not distantly 
allied to the Marmots of the Old World. They are among the 
most characteristic inhabitants of the great plains to the east of 
the Rocky Mountain Highland in North America. The earth 
thrown out from each burrow is heaped up into a mound that 
serves as a sort of watch-tower, on which a sentry may be posted. 
The Rattlesnake or the Burrowing Owl may take possession of 
a burrow, but the old idea that snake, bird, and prairie-dog live 
together in the same quarters on amicable terms is quite untenable. 
