Black tailed prairie dog

[daedong]

What is a Black tailed prairie dog and what can you tell me about them and what do you think of them.
This question is for my daughter, something to do with her Uni studies. Why see would study something in your country like this i do not know.

 

[Bird]

Vin, if you go to google.com and enter "black tailed prairie dog" you'll get lots of hits and information. This from Texas is just one example. They used to be very common and were considered pests because of the grass they ate or killed, the mounds at the burrow entrances, and the fact that a horse stepping in one of the burrows could easily break a leg. There were lots of efforts to eradicate them, and naturally, in recent times, some efforts to save some.

 

[SPIKER]

they actually make pretty good pets too, we have several of them for many years very affectionate and funny to watch though they can make a good bit of noise when playing & seeing someone new to wissle/churp at. ours were raised ones not wild caught ones. they were better pets than guinie pigs or hampsters and were 100 times more affectionate than those or mice & rats. (ya I had many different pets /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif)

they do dig massive mounds and miles of holes in the wild while living in large collinies. There was also a discovery channel show done about them a few years back maybe cheak on-line for that info?

anyhow have fun and learn about the nature around us/you prior to erradicaitng it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

MarkM