. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. which occupied any spare holes. These rather ridicuKnis looking; birds with gawky legs seem to live on terms of mutual respect with prairie dogs and to gain their living from the multitudes of mice of various kinds that also inhabit the land, though under somewhat servile conditions, picking up the scraps left by the prairie dogs, such as seeds, and even feeding on their droppings. However, the owls were never averse to taking a baby prairie dog if one wandered their way. (The young of these owls are. incidentally, among the sill
. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. which occupied any spare holes. These rather ridicuKnis looking; birds with gawky legs seem to live on terms of mutual respect with prairie dogs and to gain their living from the multitudes of mice of various kinds that also inhabit the land, though under somewhat servile conditions, picking up the scraps left by the prairie dogs, such as seeds, and even feeding on their droppings. However, the owls were never averse to taking a baby prairie dog if one wandered their way. (The young of these owls are. incidentally, among the silliest-looking creatures imaginable, at least to our eyes, for they are almost completely spherical and tailless, set up upon two parallel slender legs, wear a perpetual scowl, are constantly winking, and seem to have practically no sense of balance whatever.) Next to the owls, which seem to have been merely an ineradicable bore, the most annoying neighbors of the prairie dogs were undoubtedly the rattlesnakes, which appear to have existed in great numbers on the prairies. Being active at night—although with a detectable odor—rather fast-moving, and able to penetrate the burrows, these reptiles appear to have taken a considerable toll of young and even adult prairie dogs. The old tale about their living peacefully in the burrows with the prairie dogs is apparently untrue. Three other animals were, and still are. much more trouble to the little animals. These are the Badger, the Prairie Falcon, and a large weasel—now said to be almost extinct, but which exists in considerable quantities where there are still prairie dogs in any numbers—known as the Black-footed Ferret. This last is really the North American form of the Polecat of the Old World. known in its domesticated form (when it is usually an albino) as the "; It is a beautifully colored large weasel with an ochreous pelt and a long overcoat tipped with dark brown, black lower limbs and feet, and a bl
Size: 1830px × 1365px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, booksubjectnaturalhistory, booksubjectphysicalg
