Of course your prarie dogs are deformed, since they only have one eye, while true prairie dogs have two.

All seriousness aside, they are miserable pests which transmit plague to humans. Most of the people in the areas where the little rodents abound wish that Lewis and Clarke had called them prairie rats rather than prairie dogs because it would be so much easier to get rid of them.

I used to bicycle extensively through the Colorado plains east of Denver, and was privileged to witness the death of one of these animals. I had stopped for a drink of water and was watching a bunch of prairie dogs who, it turns out, were watching me rather than the true source of danger. Suddenly a bald eagle hit a prairie dog so hard I could hear the whump from 50 yards away. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so I could not document the bloodletting that followed immediately. Eagles, at least this one, don't carry their food away if they can help it. Eat it while it's still warm, apparently.

> does anyone know a good source/link to the latin names of genus, species, sub-species, etc. of animals?

I found a great link a couple months ago but forgot to bookmark it. Hope this helps.

Milum, if you like rats, you should read this book:

Rats: Observations On The History & Habitat Of The City?s Most Unwanted Inhabitants

By: Robert Sullivan
ISBN: 1582343853

It is really interesting, though sometimes, he does give you that little "ewww, yuck" feeling when he describes some stuff.

It's really cheap (I guess not too many people want to read up on rodents) and a very easy read.

rats

You consider rabbits rats, too? Also of the order Rodentia.

Of course you could say that rabbits are rats.
You could also say that rats are rabbits.
But the best guess is that rabbits and rats and people diverged from common Mammalian stock at slightly different times during the Mesozoic.

Rabbits and rodents are both our cousins, but we play favorites because we are bigots.

There are five species of prarie dogs, all residents of North America: the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), the white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus), the Gunnison prairie dog (Cynomys gunnisoni), the Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), and the Mexican prairie dog (Cynomys mexicanus) (Pizzimenti 1975).

The Latin name for the groundhog is marmota monax. In Ontario and elsewhere, it is also called the Woodchuck.

The ground squrrels are all seed lovers: Spermophilus columbianus, the Columbian Ground Squirrel; Spermophilus lateralis, the Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel; and Spermophilus richardsonii, Richardson's Ground Squirrel.

All are rodents (the Order Rodentia). All are part of the Family Sciuridae.

Do they regurgitate the food to their chicks then, or do they carry the meat there in the case of chick-feeding?

not all birds carry food to their young externally.

there is the sea bird that reguratates a slime (gelatious mess) that is the basis for 'birds nest soup'

pidgeons regurate 'pigdeon milk' for their young..

and other other birds that do the same thing.

some birds regurated food (basically undigested) from their crop, (which i supposes, technically is not quite regurated) others start to, or completely digest the food before regurating for their young.
(eagles and hawks often bring live (but with a broken back) prey to their nest, so the young can play with their food before they eat (as cats often do with animals they prey on!)

>>other<<

Thanks, Father Steve!

And thanks, themilum, for the motivation to find this:

The Mesozoic Era shop manual

You are forgiven, tsuwm, for your interjection of "word questions" into this zoological sector of the Awad board. Personally I think that the phrase "like other birds" is purposely indefinite. We need "indefinites " when we speak in order to keep from espousing disruptive digressions in the name of scientific nit-pick.

Now. Why is it tsuwm that you don't like birds?

there you go agin, milum; reading things into other things.

Like other birds, they carry the food to their young externally.

I had interpreted this as meaning B) like all other birds and was beat to the regurgitation post by OT.

I've seen a few bird documentaries and the birds were fed by regurgitation. I had thus wrongly assumed, as I see now, that chicks were like humans in that they had to be fed mush before solids. I now see it depends upon the bird type.

Dunno why, but I find that stuff interesting.

I find it interesting too but I'm glad I'm not a bird.

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

There were woodchucks in Ancient Rome?

Many birds feed as a courting procedure. Some of our customers take rescue birds, usually parrots, and I hear many stories of their recovery from abuse or neglect. One woman came to me very worried because her rescued African Grey parrot suddenly threw up on her, not once, but repeatedly, whenever she picked him up for a cuddle.

Congratulations, I told her, your bird is in love with you. He's bonded to you and thinks of you as his mate. This is a Good Thing when the bird has been abused and withdrawn.

I think she felt better about it after that.

best subject heading of the new year.

I recall an SF book which had as a main character someone of a bird-like species. The public restrooms in restaurants included ... facilities ... at which the creatures could disgorge. I cannot recall what - or if - the facilities were named.

Muckdonalds?