66 
PRAIRIE DOGS. 
At the time of which we write, the facilities 
for doing much of this work— namely, numerous 
irrigating canals — had not been given them ; and 
after Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell left their house, they 
were not long in passing all traces of human 
occupation, and finding themselves amid the 
native haunts of coyotes and prairie dogs. 
The odd little villages and comical manners 
of these latter animals are a never-failing source 
of interest to passers-by. 
Their residences are said to be quite extensive 
and complicated ; but as they are wholly under 
ground, people with ordinary eyes see only their 
turrets or observatories— -round little mounds, 
from six inches to a foot high, and at varying 
distances from each other. To these the whole 
family are in the habit of resorting on a pleasant 
day to take the air and gossip with their neigh- 
bors. 
These families are not formed on the plan 
adopted by animals in general — that of choosing 
their table-mates from those of their own species 
— and so they have been the subject of no small 
amount of criticism and remark. 
As it is purely a matter of taste, however, 
whether they find owls and rattlesnakes agreea- 
ble enough to live with, or not, I shall do no 
more than state that they do all live together, 
and all seem to have a good time. 
