262 YEAEBOOK OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the bottoms of their l^urrows. It is also used, apparently, as a resting 
place where they bark and scold after retreating from the mouths of 
the burrows. As elsewhere noted, the}^ are often heard barking after 
the}^ have gone in. The burrow was opened the da}' after bisulphide 
of carbon had been used for destroj^ing the animals, and the material 
carrying the bisulphide was found at the bottom of the vertical part, 
just where the horizontal part turns off. Two dead animals were 
found, one in the horizontal part, the other in the nest, as indicated 
by the letter A" in the diagram. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
The prairie dog has several mortal enemies which, when not inter- 
fered with by man, usually serve to hold its numbers in check. The 
most inveterate of these appear to be the coyote, badger, black-footed 
ferret, and rattlesnake. Their methods of attack differ widely. 
The coyote sneaks up to the borders of a colon}', hiding behind 
straggling tufts of vegetation and depending largely on his protective 
coloration for concealment. He usually approaches when the animals 
are in their burrows, and strives to reach some object behind which 
he ma}' hide and lie in wait until some unwary inha))itant comes out to 
feed, when l)y a quick rush it may be headed off and caught. 
The badger usually drives his prey into its burrow and then deliber- 
ately digs it out. He is for his size one of the most powerful animals 
in the world. His foreclaws are long and strong, and his sense of 
smell is highly developed. On sniffing a prairie dog or gopher in Its 
burrow, he simply bores down to his victim, which has no possible 
means of escape. 
The black-footed ferret is built like a weasel, and though much 
larger, is small enough to enter and traverse freely the burrows of 
prairie dogs, so that he is able to pursue them to the ends of their 
holes and capture them with absolute certainty. He is, therefore, one 
of their most relentless and terrible enemies, and if sufficiently abun- 
dant would quickly exterminate all the inhabitants of the largest 
colonies. 
The rattlesnake, like the ferret, glides silently into the hole, but is 
said to conffue his attentions to the young, which he takes from the 
nest or seizes in the passageways. Travelers on the plains, from the 
time of Lewis and Clark to the present day, speak of ffnding young 
prairie dogs in the stomachs of rattlers killed in the dog towns. The 
usual number so found appears to be one or two, but Dr. eT. A. Allen 
states that he once found three. One author claims that m Texas 
these reptiles live almost wholly on the young of the prairie dog and 
do more, perhaps, to keep down the numbers than all other agencies. 
This writer continues: 
A curious thing about the snake and the dog is that each is mortally afraid of the 
other. The dog is afraid of being eaten by the snake, and the snake is afraid of 
