Prairie-dogs hibernate in severe weather, those living in high, snow-covered mountains or in the far north sometimes sleeping through five or six months. In many places their hibernation is irregular, and near the southern border of their range is limited to a few inclement days now and then. In Wyoming they come out the last of March or early in April, sometimes when there is a foot or two of snow on the ground and the temperature ranges far below zero. Under such conditions they run about over the snow during the middle of the day, feeding on projecting tips of vegetation or digging to the ground.
Beginning near the southern border of their range and proceeding north, the single litter of the season, containing from four to six young, are born in March, April, or May, and a month later, when scarcely larger than chipmunks, may be seen playing about the entrance mound. When danger appears the mother sends the young helter-skelter for the refuge of the burrow, and should any be slow about going in she rushes at them, driving them to cover with shrill barks of alarm. When about half-grown the young scatter and prepare burrows of their own. Sometimes as many as six to nine of these animals may be found in a single burrow, in which, no doubt, they have taken refuge, or it may be a reunion of the season’s family.
On warm sunny days, especially at a time when nights are frosty, these fat little animals will often lie flat on the bare ground about their mounds, with legs outstretched, basking in the grateful rays. As their colonies expand by the rapid increase of their numbers, many individuals wander far in search of new locations. On the mountain plateaus of northern Arizona I know of instances where they have traversed several miles of pine and fir forest to locate in an isolated mountain park, and new colonies were established as far as six miles from their nearest neighbors.
The flesh of prairie-dogs is not unpalatable, and Navajo and Pueblo Indians are extremely fond of it. The Indians take advantage of heavy rains and turn the temporary rush of water down the holes to drown out the “dogs,” and thus capture many of them.
It is inevitable that many popular misconceptions should grow up about such numerous and interesting animals as the prairie-dogs. In the West many people believe that the burrows go down to water. In reality, like many other rodents, these animals have acquired the ability by chemical action in the stomach to transform the starchy food into water. I have seen dog towns located on a few feet of soil resting on a waterless lava bed miles in extent and more than 100 feet thick, as shown by canyons cut through it, thus proving the impossibility of the prairie-dog-well legend.
Another popular belief is that the rattlesnakes and burrowing owls living in prairie-dog towns unite as a kind of happy family in the burrows of the dogs. The truth is that the owls live and breed in deserted dog holes, while the rattlesnakes visit the occupied holes to feed on the unfortunate occupants.
THE STRIPED GROUND SQUIRREL (Citellus tridecemlineatus and its subspecies)
(For illustration, [see page 538])
Small size and a series of thirteen narrow, well-defined stripes, or lines, marking the upperparts of the striped ground squirrel serve to distinguish it from all its relatives. Its total length is about eleven inches and its form is nearly as slender as that of the weasel. Its brightly colored markings blend so well with the brown earth and plant stems in its haunts that when quiet it is difficult to distinguish. This protective coloration is of vital service to a small animal sought by all the diurnal birds of prey, as well as by coyotes, foxes, bobcats, badgers, skunks, weasels, and snakes.
The striped ground squirrel, also known as the “gopher” or “striped gopher,” is restricted to middle North America, where it is distributed from southern Michigan and northern Indiana west to Utah, and from about latitude 55 degrees in northern Alberta south nearly to the Gulf coast of Texas. It ranges from near sea level in Texas up nearly to 10,000 feet in Colorado. Within these limits the varying climatic conditions have modified it into several geographic races, all having a close general resemblance.