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.


TEd