Cartophagy

[urbpan]

There was a radio call. A guest noticed that a zoo map had ended up in the prairie dog exhibit. I was nearby so I went over to check. Sure enough, there it was. I waited for Children's Zoo staff to arrive.


Before they did, one of the prairie dogs made short work of the map. A guest said "he shouldn't eat that!" I told her not to worry, that the rodent was shredding the map to turn it into nesting material.


The prairie dog crumpled up the shreds of map and disappeared down a burrow with them. Nice comfy paper nest coming up!

Comments

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

Is a prarie dog the same as a gopher? In the picture they seem to have the general shape.

We have the occasional gopher walk through our property. They are my favourite rodent.

Ummm, that is assuming they are rodents.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

"Gopher" is one of those imprecise words, meaning something different depending on where you go. I looked up wildlife of Toronto and didn't find any of the usual suspects that fit that name. Prairie dogs are in the squirrel family, and so fit the shape and appearance of many other burrowing squirrels. I don't suppose you have a picture of your local gophers?

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

No but he looks like a beaver without a beaver tail. His bottom is rather large in relation to his head and he has an adorable waddle to his walk.

A few other people have seen him and said "that's a gopher" so... Could he be a ground hog?

We had a dog next door for a while and I didn't see him for the entire time. I will watch to see if he returns and try to get a photo.

He doesn't live in the back but our yard is part of his route to somewhere.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a woodchuck (groundhog; marmota monax). Prairie dogs and woodchucks are fairly similar, the main difference being that prairie dogs are highly social, living in large groups, while woodchucks are solitary.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

I love when emergencies turn out to be nothing; bonus points if they're photogenic.