76 
ORDEKS OF 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. 
