76 



ORDERS OP MAMMALS— GNAWING ANIMALS 



Marmots. 



The group of marmots consists of burrowing 

 rodents which in structure are quite squirrel- 

 like, but are distinguished by their large size 

 and general heaviness of body. As befits their 

 portliness of form, they are not active and lively, 

 like squirrels, but live quietly and unobtrusively. 

 By reason of the good sense they manifest in 

 keeping out of mischief, some of them are tol- 

 erated in farming communities when more ag- 

 gressive rodents would be exterminated. 



The woodchuck is our most perfect type of 

 Marmot, from which the prairie-" dog," or 

 prairie marmot is slightly removed by the pos- 

 session of a large and perfect fifth claw. It 

 is desirable, however, that the latter should be 

 included in the group of marmots. 



The Prairie-"Dogs." 



The Prairie-" Dog" 1 is a plump and sociable 

 little Rodent, not a Carnivore, — well known to 

 every dweller in the plains region of the great 



PRAIRIE- DOGS. 



West, and to every trans-continental traveller. 

 His explosive, yapping cry is the most cheerful 

 sound of the western plains. He hates solitude, 

 and always lives in colonies of from 40 to 1,000 

 individuals. Unlike most other burrowing Ro- 

 dents, the darkness and silence of a burrow easily 

 pall upon his vivacious nature ; therefore he 

 spends the greater portion of his waking hours 

 above ground, visiting his neighbors, and observ- 

 ing what goes on in his small world. 



1 Cy-no'mys lu-do-vi-ci-an' us . 



When no enemies are in sight, he and his fellow- 

 townsmen roam about for short distances from 

 their homes, and feed upon grass blades and 

 stems. At the approach of an enemy, — man, 

 coyote, badger, fox, gray wolf, eagle or hawk, — 

 the sentry cries out sharply, "Skip! Skip! Skip!" 



Instantly every "Dog" halts, motionless and 

 alert. If the sentry again cries "Skip!" each 

 "Dog" scurries to his hole, and poises himself 

 over its wide mouth, in readiness for a dive to 

 subterranean safety. If the danger approaches 

 quite near, the alarm cry resounds shrilly from 

 all sides, stubby tails jerk nervously as if worked 

 by wires, and down goes every Prairie-" Dog." 



Just how far down the burrows go, it is diffi- 

 cult to say, for they probably vary greatly in 

 depth. The mouth of a burrow is a miniature 

 model of a volcano, — a conical mound of bare 

 earth, a foot high and three or four feet in di- 

 ameter, with a four-inch crater in the centre, 

 going down at a slight angle. The crater pre- 

 vents water from running into the burrow. 



In making a crater the " Dogs " press the earth 

 into shape on the inside with their noses. Once 

 when an inmate of the Prairie-" Dog " Village in 

 the New York Zoological Park incurred the 

 hostility of four of his mates, they drove him into 

 his burrow, filled up the mouth of it with moist 

 earth, and with their noses tamped it down quite 

 hard, the prisoner scolding vigorously mean- 

 while. 



Prairie-" Dogs " are easily introduced into al- 

 most any open country where the ground is 

 dry, but they are very difficult to exterminate. 

 Under fair conditions they breed readily in cap- 

 tivity, and usually produce four young at a 

 birth. In 1899, a free colony was established 

 in the New York Zoological Park in the Antelope 

 Range, where it existed for two years, and its 

 saucy members attracted far more attention 

 than those confined in the fenced village. Know- 

 ing that guns and dogs are not allowed in the 

 Park, they often permitted visitors to pass with- 

 in six feet of them. But it proved impos- 

 sible to keep those industrious diggers from 

 spreading far beyond the limits fixed for them, 

 and seriously damaging walks and lawns, so 

 they were finally caught by placing sand in boxes 

 over their burrows, and transferred to the village 

 whose walls of solid masonry go down to bed 

 rock. 



