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!

Schoolkids fascinated by a peacock in the prairie dog exhibit.

Franklin Park Zoo held a special event on May the Fourth, as many places did. The zoo invited two cosplay groups to come and greet the guests. I don't work on Sundays, but you can bet that I was there just to meet all the characters!

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Which spooky door do you choose? Okay, on to the cutenesses:
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What's the title of the horror movie we're going to make with my at work snapshots?




"Horror? No it should be something about colonial ground squirrels!"

Steph requested a pic of a prairie dog. Well, she requested a pic of a prairie dog fighting a squirrel, and I didn't come across that happening and it would be unethical to engineer it. In fact, this is the only glimpse I've had of any of the prairie dogs in the past couple months. They stay on exhibit during the winter, but are less active.

Prairie dogs are highly social ground squirrels found in the plains of North America. Historically they occurred in huge numbers, and were a keystone species for the plains ecosystem. They had the misfortune of occupying land that humans found to be useful for grazing livestock, and so were assigned the status of pest in their native habitat. Prairie dogs are still shot on sight in many places, though two of five species are listed as Endangered. The wholesale destruction of prairie dog towns led to the near extinction of the black-footed ferret.

Our prairie dogs are black-tailed prairie dogs Cynomys ludovicianus the species which still occurs in the largest numbers. This exhibit holds ten animals (I think) at the moment. The design of the exhibit (actually an old seal pool filled with soil) allows the guests to see the animals very closely. If you make the right kind of kissy noise at them, the prairie dogs will alarm bark and raise their forepaws in an adorable manner. They have a complex array of communication behaviors and probably think that our barking at them is pretty stupid. The prairie dog exhibit is one of the most popular animal exhibits in Children's Zoo.

Thanks for your donation, Steph! I'll be sending the stickers later next week.

If you have a request for a zoo animal you would like me to photograph, simply click the button and donate $5.00 to the New England Chapter of the American Association of Zoo Keepers! Thanks!

Prairie dog Cynomys sp.

Prairie dogs, like many rodents, were long considered to be useless pests, destroying forage and making western ranch land dangerous for livestock. More modern ecological thinking is that they are important part of the North American grassland ecosystem, turning and fertilizing the soil with their extensive burrows. Conflicts over whether prairie dogs should be controlled (with poison and hunting) or protected are current. Supporters of protection point to the black-footed ferret, one of the continent's most endangered mammals, which depends on healthy prairie dog colonies for its survival.

A dozen prairie dogs live on exhibit in the Children's Zoo at Franklin Park Zoo.

(In my icon is another large burrowing North American rodent, the Northeastern marmot or woodchuck--or groundhog, or whistle pig.)

On this day in 365 Urban Species: Mugwort and burdock, a weedy field day for the herbal medicine enthusiasts!