Shun Wollner, age 13, of Los Angeles, Calif,
Do prairie dogs hibernate?
Shaun saw a couple of prairie dogs sleeping on the ground in the early fall and naturally wondered whether these fellows started their long winter sleep during Indian Summer, Andy is sure that these prairie dogs were not hibernating. It could be that they were just enjoying an afternoon snooze. Let's hope this is so for the alternative is not so pleasant.
As a rule, prairie dogs are very alert when above ground. They post sentinels around. their towns, sassy little fellows who stand upright watching for danger. They will let you get near, but not too near, before barking the alarm signal to their friends and relatives. Then each retires to his burrow, giving one last yap of defiance before disappearing. Downstairs there are comfortable sleeping chambers where those sassy ground squirrels are safe from their enemies. So, sad to say, it seems that those two little prairie dogs were most likely sick ‑ too sick to move.
When it comes to hibernating, some of the prairie dogs do and some do not. They cover a wide range from Texas northward to Colorado anal Montana. In the southern port of their range they can find grasses and other vegetation throughout the year. Them is no need to hole up and hibernate through the winter.
In the central regions the prairie dogs have to cope with snow and frost, In most cases this does not bother them for they are sturdy little characters. They come out to forage for food under the prairie snows but they do not stay outdoors as long as they do during the summer days.
The sturdy little fellows, however, cannot cope with the cold winters in the northern part of their range, In Colorado and Montana they hole up and hibernate for a‑few weeks or perhaps for a couple of months during the worst of the winter.
All prairie dogs, whether they hibernate or not, make certain preparations for the winter. Some of them change their tawny brown coats for thicker coats of paler fur. A11 of them stuff themselves during the late summer and. early fall in order to take on an extra layer of fat. For they are strict vegetarians and plants are always scrawnier and less plentiful during the winter. Indian Summer for the prairie dog is a time of extra hurry and scurry.
The most cruel winter weather cannot hurt the prairie dog in his cozy home. The entrance is a hole in a mound and it leads to a burrow which runs straight down for fifteen feet or more. A few feet below the surface is a little niche in a passage wall. Here an escaping prairie dog can turn around and utter that last yip of defiance to his enemy.
The bottom of the tunnel turns at right angles into a horizontal burrow. Several little rooms, thoughtfully lined with grass, lead off from this hallway and here the prairie dogs rest safely from their enemies and from the winter cold.