2040s The Prairie Dog, Owl and Rattlesnake. [ April, 
food consists, almost exclusively, of grass and succulent stems, I 
doubt not that they thus provide food, as well as bedding, for the 
sometimes long and rigorous winters they have to endure. But 
notwithstanding their prudent squirrel-like habits they emerge in 
the spring much less plump, with the surplus of fat acquired by 
autumn, well nigh exhausted. 
They prefer for their villages, ely sloping lands skirting the 
valleys, but are often found in the tops of the highest divides, and 
far down near the streams, though always avoiding rocky, marshy, 
or even moist grounds. The villages rarely cover many hundreds 
of acres, and are even miles in circumference, but more usually 4 
number from a score, to a hundred or two burrows. o 
Whole villages will, not infrequently, be deserted, and left to 
the peaceful possession of the owls and snakes. The cause of such 
nomadic habits is not clearly seen. 
It requires a considerable courage to trace out one of their 
burrows. They descend obliquely and sinuously to considerable 
depths, and frequently, if not usually, I believe, have more than 
one opening. The entrance is always protected by a circular 
mound, and after a severe rain, or when otherwise damaged, the 
busy little inhabitants carefully repair it, throwing the dirt up with | 
their hind feet till water is securely guarded against. Their holes — 
are rarely seen in situations where any but the severest freshets 
would overflow. But once have I known their villages to be €x- _ 
tensively inundated, and, as in that instance, the camp was washed 
away, and all the members of our party given a very cold mid- 
night bath, they were certainly excusable for lack of foresight! 
The instinct that teaches them of such danger is not strange, when 4 
we recollect that animals of lower intelligence, as the brown 
thrush and wild goose will depart from their usual habits, and 
build nests beyond reach of the constantly recurring freshets. 
During all warm, pleasant days, the villages are scenes of busy : 
activity. Never strolling beyond immediate reach ‘of their rée- = 
treats, they have few enemies to fear besides the snakes. They- 
are clumsy in movement like a young pup, and, when rarely sur- 
prised at a distance from their burrows, may be caught without 
much difficulty. They are quite social among themselves, and 
when not engaged in hunting food, make frequent calls upon their 
- neighbors, to discuss, probably, the affairs of their quiet oe 
wealth. 
