ALONG THE WAY

Playful Prairie Dogs Put on an Entertaining Spring Show

SOME SPRING AT my home in the Sonoran Desert, there's little need for television. Whenever I crave entertainment, I just pull up a chair, retrieve my binoculars and set my sights out the front door.

It's time for Prairie Dog Days here in Picture Rocks, a rural area west of Tucson. These adorable, beige-gray relatives of the squirrel, who weigh in at 1 to 3 pounds, are a joy to watch. Around mid-March to April, my front acre is a site of feverish construction activity as the prairie dogs emerge from hibernation and begin digging. Within a few weeks, cratered mounds and tunnels are everywhere: circling the mesquite trees, around the prickly pears, some on bare stretches of desert. I dub the colonies "condo country," and wait for the show to begin.

For several weeks, all I see are chubby adults, dashing with their short tails held high. They love to eat, and I accommodate them by supplying vegetable scraps and sunflower seeds.But several weeks later, when the youngsters born and nurtured in the burrows finally emerge, the real shenanigans begin. The precocious pups engage in rough and tumble games and a version of tag. Unlike their parents, these creatures are not yet desert smart.

One day I place some seeds in front of a few burrows, then crouch, motionless, 5 feet away. After a few minutes, two inquisitive creatures poke their heads out of their burrows and view me with suspicion. I'm barely breathing, but they sense danger and disappear. I retreat into the house and watch as they eventually scamper out and clutch the seeds in their tiny paws or drag away pieces of cucumber skin that rival their body length.

One morning I find six “kids” playing on the concrete slab at the foot of my front steps. We lock eyes for a full 10 seconds; I'm stock still and they're up on their haunches, their black eyes measuring me. Then they scurry away, but return moments later to retrieve pieces of newly placed banana. When I venture into condo country, I'm mindful of where I place my feet. Once I wasn't paying attention and stepped on a spot that gave way. I pulled away quickly, heart pounding. Had I destroyed the burrow? Was there a prairie dog inside? Fortunately my misplaced step was close to an entrance, so I reassured myself that if there had been a critter in the burrow, it would be hiding in the middle.

Some of my neighbors don't share my love of prairie dogs. The scrubby desert around here hosts manufactured homes and trailers, each typically sitting on several acres. This is prime real estate for prairie dogs, and they were here first. Yet some people set out poison; others fill the burrows with dirt.I search the Internet, where I learn that prairie dogs live on in North America. Historically, their occupied habitat included areas in 11 states, Canada and Mexico. Current studies estimate that the prairie dog population declined 98 percent during the 20th century, and that they now exist on only 2 percent of their historic home range. Two of the five species are on the Threatened and Endangered Species list. Human eradication efforts are among the primary threats to prairie dogs, and that includes homeowners who can't tolerate a few holes in their desert landscape.

Someday the prairie dogs may be gone. With burgeoning development, dog days may be numbered. But on my front acre, they thrive. I go into the kitchen and chop up some carrots. The show must go on.through Arizona Highways coffee-table books

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