Just some P-Dog insight

[BozoWise]

Just some tidbits from desert usa.

Did you know that in 1900, a huge Prairie Dog settlement was reported on the high plains of Texas.
It extended 100 miles in one direction and 250 miles in the other. An estimated 400 million prairie dogs lived in this "town!" What I would pay to shot on that town

Prairie Dog Geography – Range

Throughout most of the western United States from Canada to Mexico -- Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming -- including higher elevations of the Mojave, Great Basin and Chihuahuan deserts.

Related Species

Prairie Dogs are the most social members of the Squirrel Family and are closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks and marmots. There are 5 species of Prairie Dogs (genus Cynomys):

Black-tailed Prairie Dog (C. ludovicianus) occupies narrow bands of dry plains stretching from central Texans to Canada.

White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus) inhabits Western US: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.

Gunnison's Prairie Dog (C. gunnisoni) has a much shorter tail than other Prairie Dogs, and it is uniquely colored and centers around the Four Corners from 5000-11000 feet.

Mexican Prairie Dog (C. mexicanus ) is an endangered species with a limited distribution only within parts of Mexico.

Utah Prairie Dog (C. parvidens) is the smallest of all Prairie Dogs and threatened.

Comparisons

Of the two main species of Prairie Dogs, the Black-tailed (C. ludovicianus) has a black-tipped tail and is much more widespread, occurring sparsely over the Great Plains and throughout the Great Basin. Black-tailed are the Prairie Dogs normally sold in pet shops and may either be a baby caught in the wild or from a breeder.

The other main species, the White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus), has a white-tipped tail and inhabits higher altitudes than the Black-tailed. It hibernates in winter and is less colonial in habit.

Description

Prairie Dogs are robust rodents, slightly grizzled and fat. They have broad, rounded heads, hairy tails and short legs. The skull has 22 teeth.

Prairie Dogs weigh 1 1/2 to 3 lbs. The head and body are 11 to 13 inches long, with a tail length of 3 to 4 inches. They are yellowish in color, with darker ears and a pale buff to whitish belly. Prairie Dogs have whitish or buffy patches on the sides of their nose, their upper lips and around their eyes in the form of a ring.

Vocalization

Prairie Dogs have a high-pitched, bark-like call. Recent studies suggest that Prairie Dogs possess the most sophisticated of all natural animal languages. They apparently issue different sounds identifying various predators, which include hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, coyotes, badgers, ferrets and snakes. While the have been known to attack and kill Prairie Dogs can run up to 35 miles per hour for short distances. The Prairie Dog has only one defense that works -- raising the alarm and disappearing quickly.



In 1900, a huge Prairie Dog settlement was reported on the high plains of Texas.
It extended 100 miles in one direction and 250 miles in the other.
An estimated 400 million prairie dogs lived in this "town!"



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prairie Dog Geography – Range

Throughout most of the western United States from Canada to Mexico -- Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming -- including higher elevations of the Mojave, Great Basin and Chihuahuan deserts.

Related Species

Prairie Dogs are the most social members of the Squirrel Family and are closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks and marmots. There are 5 species of Prairie Dogs (genus Cynomys):

Black-tailed Prairie Dog (C. ludovicianus) occupies narrow bands of dry plains stretching from central Texans to Canada.

White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus) inhabits Western US: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.

Gunnison's Prairie Dog (C. gunnisoni) has a much shorter tail than other Prairie Dogs, and it is uniquely colored and centers around the Four Corners from 5000-11000 feet.

Mexican Prairie Dog (C. mexicanus ) is an endangered species with a limited distribution only within parts of Mexico.

Utah Prairie Dog (C. parvidens) is the smallest of all Prairie Dogs and threatened.

Comparisons

Of the two main species of Prairie Dogs, the Black-tailed (C. ludovicianus) has a black-tipped tail and is much more widespread, occurring sparsely over the Great Plains and throughout the Great Basin. Black-tailed are the Prairie Dogs normally sold in pet shops and may either be a baby caught in the wild or from a breeder.

The other main species, the White-tailed Prairie Dog (C. leucurus), has a white-tipped tail and inhabits higher altitudes than the Black-tailed. It hibernates in winter and is less colonial in habit.

[BozoWise]

Description

Prairie Dogs are robust rodents, slightly grizzled and fat. They have broad, rounded heads, hairy tails and short legs. The skull has 22 teeth.

Prairie Dogs weigh 1 1/2 to 3 lbs. The head and body are 11 to 13 inches long, with a tail length of 3 to 4 inches. They are yellowish in color, with darker ears and a pale buff to whitish belly. Prairie Dogs have whitish or buffy patches on the sides of their nose, their upper lips and around their eyes in the form of a ring.


Vital Stats

Weight: 1.5-3 lbs.
Length with tail: 3-5"
Shoulder Height: 3-4"
Sexual Maturity: 1 year
Mating Season: March-April
Gestation Period: 28-32 days
No. of Young: 3-8, 5 avg.
Birth Interval: 1year
Lifespan: 3-5 years in the wild


Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Sub Order: Sciurognathi
Family: Sciuridae
Sub Family: Sciurinae
Genus: Cynomys
Species: 5 in North America








Vocalization

Prairie Dogs have a high-pitched, bark-like call. Recent studies suggest that Prairie Dogs possess the most sophisticated of all natural animal languages. They apparently issue different sounds identifying various predators, which include hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, coyotes, badgers, ferrets and snakes. While the have been known to attack and kill Prairie Dogs can run up to 35 miles per hour for short distances. The Prairie Dog has only one defense that works -- raising the alarm and disappearing quickly.




Tail

Prairie Dog tails are generally short and bushy, but vary considerably in length and color between species.

Ears
Prairie Dogs ears are very short and often hidden in the fur.

Eyes

Prairie Dogs eyes are positioned on the sides of the head, appear to be adapted for detecting movement over a wide arc, and this allows these Prairie Dogs to detect predators with greater success

Feet

Prairie Dog feet are a usually a creamy color.

Behavior

All Prairie Dogs are diurnal. While most may be dormant for short periods of cold weather, the White-tailed species is a true hibernator in Winter.

Prairie Dogs have an intricate social system composed of one male and several close-kin females and their offspring. Populations vary from 5 to 35 per acre.

The Prairie Dog digs its own burrows. There is a well-constructed and frequently reinforced dike against flooding from sudden rains. The entrance holes themselves are funnel-shaped, from 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

These tunnels lead down a steeply slanting corridor 15 or 16 feet before leveling off for another 20 to 50 feet. There are side chambers for storage, for nesting and for escape should the tunnel be invaded by predators or flooding. They may extend 100 feet or more.

When a predator approaches, the first alert Prairie Dog gives a sharp warning call, bobs up and down in excitement, calls again and then plunges below. The danger signal is a 2-syllable bark, issued at about 40 per minute. Other sentinels farther from the danger zone take up the watch, monitoring the course of the predator.

Habitat
Short and medium grass prairies and plateaus of the American West.

Food & Hunting

Although Prairie Dogs are almost exclusively vegetarian, nursing females have been observed both cannibalizing and communally nursing each other's pups. The various native plants of the Great Plains make up the Prairie Dog's primary diet, comprising all kinds of grasses, roots, weeds, forbs and blossoms. They acquire all of their water from the food they eat. Sometimes insects are also eaten.

Breeding

One litter is born to the Prairie Dog female each year. During a 4- or 5- hour estrus, a female Prairie Dog may mate copulate with as many as 5 different males, allowing pups from the same litter to have different fathers.

For the Black-tailed, mating generally occurs in late January, with the young being born March and April (a gestation period 28 to 32 days). The White-tailed mates in March or April, with the young being born in May. These youngsters hibernate with their parents October through March in the north and in high mountain valleys.

There are usually 3 to 5 youngsters in a litter, but sometimes as many as 8. The young are blind and hairless. Their eyes don't open for 33 to 37 days. At about 6 weeks, they begin to appear above ground and are ready to be weaned. They probably separate from the mother by early fall.

During May and the early part of June, the young begin to emerge from their burrows for the first time. At this time, yearlings (young from the previous year) and some adults may relocate, leaving the young pups to feel secure both socially and environmentally in the old burrow. When Prairie Dogs relocate, they take over abandoned holes or dig new holes at the edge of the town. A few may travel miles in search of new areas, but once away form the communal warning system, most are easy prey for predators.

Conservation

Common predators of the Prairie Dog include coyotes, bobcats, eagles, hawks, badgers and weasels.

Because they eat as much as 7 percent of a ranch's forage, Prairie Dog eradication programs have been underway for decades in the American West. But a growing number of experts argue that Prairie Dogs may actually be beneficial, that they are natural fertilizers who also increase the protein content and digestibility of rangeland grasses.

Today, after decades of eradication by federal, state, and local governments, devastation from disease, poisoning, recreational shooting and habitat destruction , Prairie Dogs are rapidly disappearing. More have been exterminated than remain, inhabiting only about 2 percent of their former range. Colonies are being preserved, however, in Wind Cave National Park, Devils Tower National Monument and in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve. The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico maintains a municipal park with a resident colony of Gunnison's Prairie Dogs.

Cautions

Prairie Dogs are very susceptible to bubonic plague, acquiring it from fleas infected with plague bacteria. Most public health officials believe the chance of contracting plague from Prairie Dog fleas is very low, but flea-borne disease can wipe out a colony. Prairie Dogs have lived up to 8 1/2 years in captivity.

[Bobcat]

......poor little "endangered", plague carrying, range ruining thangs!

Lock and load!

Thanks for the data, BW!

Bob

[BozoWise]

Yes I always thought that any animal that would allow me to shot near 750 of their friends and family in a day should be put on the endangered list.

[SteveS]

Just got finished this information on the prey for the second time. GOOD JOB! You must have spent a lot of hours researching and compiling the data.

Thank you.

I'm looking forward to getting in touch with you as soon as my back muscles stop their spasming. Hope we can get together in Tatum.

Steve

[BozoWise]

Give me a shout whenever Steve.

[kellyg]

Tatum ..... I've got a couple of stories about that place from a loooong time ago!!!! There used to be a big bar on the left side of the road heading toward Tx from there.....

[Bennie]

It's still there, stopped in and had a steak and beer when we went swift goat hunting with Deadeye. Looks like a good place to lose your life on a given evening. But good food. We sent Deadeye in first and no one shot at him so we figured the way was clear.

[Dead Eye]

Hey Bennie

You forgot I put may head in first cuz it is bullet proof
at least up to 6mm

Laters Dead Eye

[exitwound]

Those are sure interesting facts on the p-dog. I've got several prairie dog stories, one that comes to mind was on my father inlaws ranch south and west of Tatum N.M. We had gone out to check cows in his truck. When we passed thru one of his dog towns we stopped and started taking turns shooting prarire dogs with his 22 rifle. He was shooting at the time when I spotted a dog about 75 yds off doing a hand stand behind a mound. Look I said that dog is standing on his head. He promptly swung the rifle around and fired. Thud !! The dog continued to do the hand stand, he fired again. Thud!! Still there. He put the truck in gear and drove over there. When we looked we couldn't believe our eyes. there was a huge rattelsnake swallowing our dog head first!!!! We talked it over and decided to go ahead and kill the snake because it was close to the house, but, that was with reservation because he was sure mopping those dogs up.

[Dead Eye]

Hey ExitWound

Thats a good story as a mater of fact Bozo and I had the same thing happen this past summer we shot a PDog and went to look at it and a large rattler was haveing him for lunch. We were going to catch him and just like that the snake spit the dog out and was down the hole.

Laters Dead Eye

[exitwound]

How about that. I guess those rattlesnakes prey on those dogs quite often. Have you seen any of those mexican brown eagles picking off prairiedogs? We were watching a hawk eating one of our prairiedog Kills when all of a suddenly he flew off and one of those eagles landed on the dog and flew off with it. That Hawk didn't want any part of that eagle!

[Dead Eye]

Hey EW

Yes we have but we see a lot of black eagles and hawks that go after PDogs

Laters Dead Eye

[Bennie]

Deadeye, We call those Black Eagles buzzards around here. ;D

[BozoWise]

Actually guys the brids around Tatum that are picking the dogs, atleast on the land North West are actually a Ferruginous hawk. That breed primarily in and around dog towns. I will see if I can find the pictures but we could get withing 6 feet of them by the end of the last year. As you drove onto the dog town you could fire off one round and watch the falcons flying in. They would sit near the truck and then follow the shots and fight over the scraps. We prefer to shot the dogs with LARGE caliber rifles to make them easier to digest

This is what I believe them to be... Some people claim that they are peregrine Falcons though. I am not much of a bird man. I know they are not Vulchers yet we have them also.

Common name: Ferruginous (fer-OO-jin-us) means "rusty color" and refers to the coloration of the birds wing and legging feathers.

Geographic Range

Mostly western in the Great Basin and Great Plains. Ferruginous hawks breed from eastern Washington to southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, Canada, south to eastern Oregon, Nevada, northern and southeastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, northwest Texas, western Nebraska, western Kansas, and western Oklahoma. Winters across the southwest to Baja California and central Mexico. May show up in the southeast during migration.

Description

The ferruginous hawk is the largest buteo in North America averaging 22.5-25" long, with a 53-56" wingspan. Sexes are alike, females average just a bit larger than males. Two color morphs occur, with intermediates. Light morph: Rust colored back and shoulders; head paler, grayish and streaked, and white tail has pale rust wash on end. Undersides are white with limited streaking and rusty spots; leg feathers rust colored on adults, white on juveniles. Large, white crescent-shaped patches occur on the upperwing surface on the primaries. Beneath the wing, large dark comma-shaped patches occur at the wrists. Dark morph: Entire head and body and wing surfaces are dark brown to cinnamon-colored. The yellow gape (mouth) stripe is visible. Upper surface of wing at the base of the primaries shows the white "window", similar to light morphs.

Voice

A harsh alarm call sounds like kree-a or kaah

Habitat

Ferruginous hawks are birds of open country. They occur in semiarid grasslands with scattered trees, rocky mounds or outcrops, and shallow canyons that overlook open valleys. They may occur along streams or in agricultural areas in migration.

Food and Hunting

Ferruginous hawks rely primarily upon rodents found in their grassland ecosystems. Prey includes Richardson's ground squirrels, white-tailed jackrabbits, black-tailed jackrabbits, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats. Other prey includes snakes, lizards, meadowlarks, grasshoppers, and crickets. Again, in southeastern Utah prairie dogs seem to be the main prey source.

The birds tend to hunt in early morning or late afternoon. Birds hunt in four fashions: short distance strikes on prey from the ground, aerial hunting from low altitudes, aerial strikes from high altitudes (300 feet), and flying after prey from a perch. Hunting from the ground appears to be the more successful of the four methods. Since these birds inhabit open country, they can stand by a burrow and wait for prey to appear.

Like many raptors, prey is swallowed whole or torn into chunks. The ferruginous hawk then regurgitates a pellet of fur, feathers, bone, and other non-digestible material.

Behavior

Ferruginous hawks may nest in close proximity to each other, less than 1/2 mile away. Other species, like Swainson's hawks or red-tailed hawks, may nest in closer proximity to ferruginous hawks than the 1/2 mile distance. Nesting territories may have a number of alternate nests in close proximity that are used in different years. From observations in the Cisco Desert of southern Utah, the hawks appear to favor one nest, which is used in successive years or, at least, the majority of the time.

Additional Notes

Populations of ferruginous hawks seem to have declined in most areas over their range, except in California where they appear to have increased significantly in the past decade. In Utah, the ferruginous hawk is listed as a State Threatened Species, and is a federal Species of Concern.

Occasionally, hay stacks, power poles or nest platforms may be used for nest sites.