A visit to Twycross Zoo gave me the opportunity for this picture, I don't think I could have had them pose any better if I had placed them in the positions myself. I guess they just wanted to be Charlie's Angels!
The Prairie Dog is a small burrowing rodent on average 30 - 40 cms long including it's short tail. Prairie dogs are named after their habitat and warning call which sounds like a dog's bark. They live in large colonies of families that can cover hundreds of acres, each family consisting of one male and up to four females. Prairie dogs have up to 4 pups a year which are born blind and furless and which have to be closely nurtured for around a month.
The pups reach maturity in their third year and after their third winter the dominant male in the family will drive them away forcing them to establish their own families at the edge of the colony. Prairie Dogs are a social species but they are also aggressive towards their predators such as snakes.
Prairie Dog tunnels may have several chambers and can go as deep as 5 meters and range laterally as far as 30 meters with the burrows lined with grass for insulation. Earth from the tunnel excavations is piled up in mounds around the tunnel entrances, which then serve as observations posts.
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