Prairie dogs dig so extensively they threaten the prairie ground
Evidence
The appearance of hundreds of these creatures, each eighteen inches long, sitting like dogs begging, with their paws down and all turned sunwards, is most grotesque. The Wish-ton-Wish has few enemies, and is a most prolific animal. From its enormous increase and the energy and extent of its burrowing operations, one can fancy that in the course of years the prairies will be seriously injured, as it honeycombs the ground, and renders it unsafe for horses. The burrows seem usually to be shared by owls, and many of the people insist that a rattlesnake is also an inmate, but I hope for the sake of the harmless, cheery little prairie dog, that this unwelcome fellowship is a myth. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 48
Categorization
- SHARE: A Nebraska friend who loves prairie-dog town documentaries would delight in the Victorian detail that prairie dogs were called Wish-ton-Wish and feared to share burrows with rattlesnakes.
- XREF: connects to: Prairie-dog burrowing was already feared to damage the prairies. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 117
Related
- Prairie-dog burrowing was already feared to damage the prairies. (similarity 0.93)
Broader Connections
- Prairie-dog burrowing was already feared to damage the prairies.
#corroborates(0.95) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 117