HABITS OF PRAIRIE-" DOGS" 205 



extent that systematic destruction will stop short of exter- 

 mination. 



It is not true that the Prairie-" Dog " lives in peace and 

 harmony in the same burrow with the rattlesnake and bur- 

 rowing owl. The snakes would make short work of the 

 young Prairie-" Dogs," and the latter would quickly kill the 

 owl! It is safe to surmise that when a deadly and quarrel- 

 some rattler invades the home of a Prairie-" Dog " family, 

 the latter speedily seeks a home elsewhere. The burrowing 

 owl is in the habit of taking refuge in abandoned burrows, 

 and nesting in them, to save the labor of digging a burrow 

 for itself. In the Philadelphia Zoological Garden Mr. A. E. 

 Brown once tried the experiment of associating burrowing 

 owls and Prairie-" Dogs." The owls were immediately killed 

 and torn to pieces by the "Dogs." 



A Prairie-" Dog" Burrow 



Once a Prairie-" Dog " burrow was completely exposed 

 by digging, and reported upon in full in one of the publica- 

 tions of the Biological Survey. In the "Yearbook of the 

 Department of Agriculture" for 1901, Dr. C. Hart Merriam 

 published a valuable paper on "The Prairie-Dog of the Great 

 Plains," which contained the following illustrated description: 



"The holes go down for some distance at a very steep 

 angle and then turn at nearly a right angle and continue 

 horizontally, rising somewhat toward the end. The nests 

 are in side chambers connecting with the horizontal part of 

 the burrow, and usually, if not always, at a somewhat higher 

 level. (See H in figure.) Recently, at Alma, Nebraska, W. 



