TOWN BUILDERS 
79 
tombing the rattler forever. As a rule, however, 
the snakes content themselves by hiding in the 
grass, and picking off the puppies when they 
come out to frolic around. This is the method 
also of the coyotes, hawks, and owls, who find a 
dog town the most profitable of hunting- 
grounds. 
“Another enemy persists in living in their 
homes with them, much as the flies and spiders do 
with us, only this pest of the prairie dogs is larger 
and more impossible to control. It is the bur¬ 
rowing owl. Go to any western dog town and 
you may see scores of these peculiar birds scat¬ 
tered about. They are not very shy, but if you 
startle one into flight it slips away noiselessly, as 
do all owls, owing to their extremely downy 
plumage. If you wound or catch one, it gives 
out a harsh scream. Their call note sounds like 
that of the cuckoo, and may readily be mistaken 
for it. Living among the dogs, they have natu¬ 
rally caught some of their ways, and they often 
give out a peculiar squeal, which is the best they 
can do toward a bark. They are very sociable 
and chuckle and chatter about with one another 
continually. They eat lizards, grasshoppers and 
insects of all kinds, and if they stopped at that 
they might be the real friends of the prairie dogs. 
But alas! the owls often regale themselves with 
the puppies of their hosts. Were it possible to 
