Is it a plane? Is it a hog? Is it a Dog? Nope, it’s a actually a relative of the squirrel, it’s a Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (okay, so it’s called a Dog, but come on.. does it resemble a dog? What, really? Oh okay have it your way).
Unlike it’s squirrel cousin, the Prairie Dog is actually a very sociable creature, living in colonies. As with many animals, loss of habitat has decimated the number of these creatures by around 95%. It’s not all doom and gloom though as it’s estimated there are between 10 and 20 millions still roaming the plains of North America.
Not quite as endearing or as popular as it’s slimmer relative, the Meerkat, these animals are still a joy to watch. As with it’s more famous relations, a sentry is continually on guard for predators and threats to the clan. A jump and a “yip” signifies both predator and all clear, and for all it’s seriousness, can’t help but bring a smile to anyone watching.
I currently have 33 images sorted to upload this week, with some quite nice photos of low-land gorillas. I’ll write about their antics when I’ve uploaded them and I’ve still have another 1.65Gb to sort through so I won’t be short of a blog or two until the weekend (hard luck I’m sure I’ll have taken more photos by then).
Andrew Skelton: 
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