WildEarth Guardians

Monday, July 2, 2007
Prairie Dog Nation: Critical Cornerstone of a Crumbling Castle

An article by wildlife photographer and enthusiast Jim Robertson
Contact: Jim Robertson

Here's a short multiple-choice quiz to test your knowledge of your fellowanimals. Note: Though some animals may share several of the characteristicsdescribed, they must meet all the criteria in order to qualify as a correctanswer.

1.) Which two animal species fit the following description:highly social; master planners/architects/builders of complex,interconnected dwellings; live in established colonies; have a language; canreadily learn and invent new words; greet one another by kissing?

A. Humans B. Prairie Dogs C. Dolphins D. Penguins

Answer: A and B.

2.) Which two animal species fit the following description:vegetarians; practice communal care for the offspring of their group;essential to the health of their chosen environment, without whom the entiresystem unravels; a benefit to those other species who share their turf; havebeen forcibly reduced to less than 3% of their original population?

A. Humans B. Prairie Dogs C. Bison D. Hyenas

Answer: B. and C.

3.) Which two animal species fit the following description:out of control pest overrunning the planet, multiplying at a phenomenalpace--so fast they're pushing every other being off the face of the Earth;completely nonessential in the scheme of things and rapidly destroying thehabitats for all other life; categorized by a swellheaded sense ofsuperiority, convinced that they are of far greater significance than anyother animal--especially mere rodents; make sport of killing othergregarious beings which they refer to as "varmints"?

A. Humans B. Prairie DogsvC. Cockroaches D. Starlings

Answer: Trick question--the only species fitting all the criteria is A.

If this seems a harsh assessment of the human race, remember, we're talkingabout the species who single-handedly, and with malice of forethought,blasted, burned and poisoned the passenger pigeon--once the most numerousbird on the entire planet--to extinction, and who nearly wiped out the bluewhale--the largest animal the world has ever known. Under the mistakenimpression that prairie dogs damage grasslands usurped by cattle ranchers,the U.S. government began a poisoning campaign in the 1920s that led to thenear-demise of prairie dog colonies throughout their ecosystem. The fewremaining scattered colonies now occupy only 1% of their original range, yetprairie dogs are still senselessly shot on public lands to this day.

When the dust settles on their reign of terror, the human species as a wholewill be best remembered as squandering ingrates who turned their noses up atnature's gifts and goose-stepped on toward mass extinction, in spite ofwarnings from historians and scientists and pleas from the caring few.Professor Paul R. Ehrlich is one scientist who has spent decades trying toget the word out. In 1970, he told National Wildlife Magazine, "It isn't aquestion of people or animals--it's got to be both of us or we're finished.We can't get along without them. They could get along without us."

All across the globe, humans have enslaved those animals they deemedworthwhile and set out to eliminate the rest. As John Muir noted, "Theworld, we are told, is made especially for man--a presumption not supportedby the facts. A numerous class of men are painfully astonished whenever theyfind anything which they cannot eat or render in some way useful to themselves." To thevast majority of people living in their realm, prairie dogs fall into thecategory of 'not useful' and so have suffered the wrath of the gods.

Yet, as Dr. Jane Goodall observes, "Nine different wildlife species dependon the prairie dog and their habitat for their survival. The prairie dog isa critical component to healthy North American grasslands." And TerryTempest Williams adds, "If the prairie dog goes, so goes an entireecosystem. Prairie dogs create diversity. Destroy them and you destroy avaried world."

The black-footed ferret is one species who cannot survive without a stablepopulation of prairie dogs. Once thought extinct, ferrets are among the mostendangered animals on the continent, numbering only around 300. Ferrets,coyotes, badgers, swift foxes and others use abandoned prairie dog holes fordenning. In a region so arid that trees can't grow, burrowing owls andmountain plovers have adapted to nesting in old prairie dog tunnels. Despitetheir name, burrowing owls aren't really heavy excavators, depending onprairie dogs to do the grunt work for them.

Like renters scrambling for a recently vacated Manhattan apartment, anyonelucky enough to secure a former prairie dog home finds themselves living inthe lap of relative luxury. Accommodations include multiple rooms ondifferent levels, branching off from a passageway dug sometimes 15 feet deepand traveling horizontally for up to 100 feet or more.

By moving massive amounts of dirt in the construction of their elaborateabodes (which include a level just inside where they listen for danger,year-round sleeping quarters, birthing chambers and a designated restroom)prairie dogs spread nutrient-rich soil and compost onto the surface, actingas nature's organic gardeners. Deep layers of aerated, fertile soil aretilled up and the resulting nitrogen-rich grasses and forbs associated withprairie dog towns are preferred by grazers, such as bison, pronghorn andeven cows.

Prairie dog colonies were once a central feature throughout their range--theshort-grass region of the Great Plains--which ran from the east slopes ofthe Rockies through Southern Alberta, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas andsouth to Texas and Northern Mexico. Their burrows not only housed extendedfamilies, or coteries, but in larger colonies, included an elaborate andlengthy tunnel system connecting one home to the next. One such aggregationin Texas stretched for 100 miles, covered over 25,000 square miles andhoused 400 million prairie dogs. Words like 'subdivision' have been used todescribe prairie dog colonies, but while urban sprawl--notorious for milesof blacktop and coal-fired power plants--X's out wildlife habitat, prairiedog dwellings are a positive boon to the environment.

So cooperative are prairie dog settlements that mothers even practicecommunal nursing, but not because they can't keep track of their ownoffspring. Unlike many rodents, prairie dogs have a low birth rate--awould-be mother only coming into estrous one day per year. And litter sizeis relatively small, usually three to four young who remain in the householduntil maturity, at which time only the males disperse.

As should be expected, any animal this social will need to develop their ownform of communication, and prairie dogs have become quite theconversationalists. Who would have thought the prairie dog "barking" toothers from the edge of his burrow was actually a skilled orator reciting ananimal version of the Gettysburg Address? Northern Arizona biology professorand prairie dog linguist, Con Slobodchikoff, has identified a boundlessarray of words with specific meanings, as well as signs of sentencestructure and the ability to invent new words describing things they'venever seen before, within the varied sounds of prairie dogs.

According to Slobodchikoff, "We're chipping awayat the idea that animals don't have language," adding, "So far, I think weare showing the most sophisticated communication system that anyone hasshown in animals." A few years back, wildlife researchers in Africa caused astir in the scientific community with their earth-shattering discovery thatvervet monkeys had their own language. They have three categories of warningcalls: one each for leopard, eagle and snake. Well, our home team has thatbeat. Slobodchikoff, with the aid of a computer that creates a sonogram, hasanalyzed recordings of prairie dogs and identified words for potentialpredators such as coyote and red-tailed hawk, as well as for fellowgrass-eaters like pronghorn, deer and elk. They also have wordsdifferentiating between curious human onlooker and aggressive human withill-intent.

Unfortunately, the latter is the rule. People in "cattle country" entertainthemselves by using the few remaining prairie dogs for target practice.Taking sick pleasure in shooting a watchful, cooperative grass- eater as shepops up from her burrow to see if it's safe for her youngsters to come out,these vacuous, hollow excuses for human beings are completely unconcernedabout leaving dependent babies to starve. The noble hunters have evendevised a clever name, "double tap" for a shot that kills both a mother andher adoring baby. "Tap" is a particularly twisted label, considering thehollow point bullets they use cause the victims to literally explode onimpact, a sight that must really get the shooter's blood up.

Ladies beware: there's a well-established link between cruelty to animals,domestic abuse and other crimes along the violence continuum. One suchthrill-killer describes his sport this way: "Prairie dog hunting is a blaston both private and public lands. I like to start by clearing everythingwithin 0-50 yards with an AR-15, then switch to my .223 Remington foranything out to about 150 and finally trade up to the bull barrel . 22-250for the longer shots." The only thing stopping people with this muchbloodlust is the melting point of their gun barrels and the cost ofammunition (going through 500 rounds a day can get expensive). Yet, theywill pay upwards of $1,200 for a couple of days at one of the privateranches that advertise prairie dog hunts. One enticing ad describes theirtypical day as follows: "We approach the edge of a prairie dog town and setup and shoot for an hour or two or until the prairie dogs start gettingscarce, then we pull up and drive over the hill and continue prairie doghunting after you get tired of the carnage, its also fun to try shots over 1,000yards."

Longtime candidates for ESA protection, black-tailed prairie dogs wereremoved from the waiting list in 2004, their fate left up to the stateswhich manage them for "recreational shooting opportunities." This glib gamedepartment jargon, loosely translated, means states like Wyoming have anopen season on prairie dogs, allowing for unregulated, year-round shootingwithout limit or regard for their future.

Adding insult to injury, the latest threat to prairie dogs comes from thepet trade. To satisfy captive animal collectors' appetites for the latestfad, prairie dogs are vacuumed out of their burrows, separated from theirrelatives and shipped to markets as far off as Japan.

If we ever completely decode prairie dog language, we're likely to find thatthe word for human is, at best, unflattering. Edward Abbey wrote, "We areobliged to spread the news, painful and bitter though it may be for some to hear,that all living things on earth are kindred." No doubt many prairie dogs,embittered by the cruel treatment their families have endured, would find itpainful indeed to claim any connection to the human race.

Visit www.animalsinthewild.com for more information.