The prairie dog that was afraid of his own shadow

A Prairie Dog Story

By: Louis R. Sauer who is now an environmentalist

Editor Carver Louis Means

Copy right March 28, 2017

PRELUDE:

“Help support the grasslands. Adopt a prairie dog” the

handmade sign read. The boy carrying the sign was named Hiram and

he was on a mission! He was NOT going to stop protesting!

It didn’t matter that the noon-day sun was blazing or that his brothers

and sisters had given up and gone back to the motel pool for a swim.

Their homemade signs, now abandoned and stuck in the sandy soil had

had similar messages’ “Don’t Be a Rat! SAVE THEIR HABITAT!”,

“COTERIE LIVES MATTER” and “Kristy Bly For President”.*

Hiram smiled as he read his sister Hannah’s, “Save the Little Prairie

Dog House of the Prairie!”

Too bad they weren’t as committed as he was. But after all, they would

only be here in Sun Prairie Wisconsin until tomorrow. It was an

unexpected stop over on their way to Canada while Dad’s car was being

repaired. The mechanic had to order a new radiator and the Best

Western was right across the street. So was the vacant Building Site.

“COMING SOON!” “SUN PRAIRIE VILLAGE” “1,000 LUXUARY Homes

Sites!” “Prices From $299,000” blah, blah, etc. etc.

A dozen big earth moving machines were parked under or near the

signs, just waiting for the city to finalize the permits and only he, Hiram

Means, remained to protest. Behind these signs was a desolate

expanse. To anyone else’s eyes, a waste land. The Motel Manager said

so himself.

“Nothin’ to see there, kid,” Just a lot of blowing sand and acres and

acres of stubby prairie grass. Ain’t good for nothin’ ‘cept them pesky

prairie dogs.”

Mom and Dad were too exhausted from the long drive from South

Carolina to care. But all five children leapt at the word…

“Prairie dogs? Did you say Prairie dogs?” both girls had exclaimed, “We

love Prairie Dogs!”

“Better see ‘em quick, (doggone pests that they are), day after

tomorrow, the pavin’ and gradin’ begins and that will be that!” His

phone rang before he could say more, but the children had already

rushed out the glass doors and headed to the vacant field.

That evening, there was nothing to do except order Little Caesar’s when

the pool closed and the children were bored. The oldest had the idea,

“We should make signs and tell people,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe if

they knew, they wouldn’t plow down all those mounds we saw today.”

“Oh Carver,” said Mom, “Did you even see a prairie dog today when

you went out there? They are long gone, I’m sure.”

That’s when Hiram looked up from the Ipad and showed them the

pictures of all the underground tunnels. “There are miles and miles of

tunnels actually. There used to be hundreds of millions of prairie dogs

in North America, “he read. “European settlers traveling through the

West wrote about passing through massive prairie dog colonies, some

of which extended for miles. But over time, their range has shrunk to

less than 5% of its original extent due to a host of pressures, including

habitat encroachment by humans.”

“What??!” shouted Marie, “Less than 5%??!!”

Zeke was the first one to grab the crayons and art paper they had

brought in from the car. “Don’t Be a Rat! SAVE THEIR HABITAT!” was

his idea. But it was Hiram that committed everyone to carry their signs

the next morning in front of the work site. He was the first to arrive

and would be the last to leave.

Meanwhile… underground….

*Kristy Bly, is the WWF, World Wildlife Foundation, senior wildlife conservation biologist and an expert on Prairie Dogs.

Our story now shifts to the

Underground Colony of the Scuiridae de

Sundae Prairie *

Meet Chappy.

Chappy wasn’t happy.

He was smaller than his seven brothers and twin sisters. And he was

chubby. Well, there were a great many of his kin down here and they all

were chubby, but it bothered him more than any of the several

hundred in the colony that he had met so far.

“Another day,” he sighed.

“They will want me to look out. As usual. I’m sure I’ll get eaten today!

* “Blame the name on early French Explorers”, the Author

“No you won’t,” said Mama. “You know every day I wake you up and

every day you say that.”

“And one day it will be true!”

“Oh, dear me! Such a worrier! Seriously Chappy, you are the best lookout in the colony! Didn’t you spot those human children yesterday?

And didn’t we all hide and not get eaten?”

“Ahh Mom! Children don’t eat us any more! It’s just that black-footed

ferret we have to watch out for!”

“Chappy dear, he is an endangered one and he has migrated north.

Chappy’s brother tapped him on the shoulder and almost scared him to

death, “It takes a while for black-footed ferrets to learn how to catch

one of us, anyway, Bro. And, we Prairie dogs fight back!”

“Great,” mumbled Chappy, “That makes me feel sooo much better!”

And soon Chappy was at his post. He really was the best watcher!

Soon, his seven brothers popped out and raced toward the piece of

fruit a human child had left there the day before. That was Hiram.

Hoping to get them to trust him, he had raided the fruit bowl at the

free breakfast and placed half apples and other treats near a dozen

strategic spots across the wide field near clumps for grass. He had

found a large cardboard box near the dumpster and boring a small peek

hole, had hidden himself under it to watch and wait.

His patience was almost spent when Chappy popped out. Of course he

saw the box right away. But boxes and other trash often blew over the

barren acres so he turned his eyes to the sky. “Boxes don’t eat prairie

dogs, but hawks do,” he said to himself and then had waved his

brothers up and out of the safety of their burrow.

Next came the twins. Plumpina and Munchina.

They always stayed close to each other and nibbled on the grass close

to the hole.

“I’m looking at the most fascinating mammals,” Hiram whispered to

himself. Having read much about it on the Tablet before falling asleep.

He concluded that the Prairie dog world is a strange and surprisingly

complex world!

What he did not see was the danger slithering near his box.

But the box with the boy inside was between Chappy and that sneaky

slithering snake! OH NO!!!

Chappy watched the sky and barely took notice of all the prairie dogs

diving into the nearest holes. After all they did that all the time. In and

out, up and down. Then in and out again.

“Why did you do that?” he asked his sisters.

“We don’t know,” they both squeaked together breathlessly,

“Everybody else is doing it!”

Chappy sighed, “So you thought you should too. I see.”

Then a shadow passed over.. A Hawk!

Chappy dove for cover too. His brother was just inside the hole and

laughed at him, “Chappy, that was just a small cloud you saw in the

sky, and the shadow was your own! Ha, ha! Chappy is afraid of his

own shadow!”

Soon the tunnels were filled with prairie dog squeaky calls and the

echoes replied back with laughter.

Chappy knew that label would stick, “Chappy is afraid of his own

shadow!”

Slowly, he gathered up his courage and poked his head out again and

this time he saw it! A rattle snake!

Chappy dove for cover.

Then, with laughter still echoing through the tunnels, he turned back.

One thing he knew, a snake could slither into any prairie dog hole. And

when would that happen? “NOT ON MY WATCH!” he squeaked!

He was determined to show his colony. To be brave!

He again poked out his head. “Oh no! Now several children, the ones

he had seen yesterday, along with another, were walking in his

direction!

“Hiram! Where are you? Have you see any Prairie dogs?” called one of

the children.

Hiram wished they would not spoil his perfect hiding place. Slowly he

turned and using a pencil, made a small hole in the back to see if they

knew where he was hiding. That’s when he saw the rattlesnake too.

He was safe in the box. Or was he? The snake might crawl under it he

feared. But moving would most certainly provoke the snake too!

One of the children, older than the others, was running toward Hiram.

He recognized him as the motel owner’s son. “Stay back!” Hiram called

but the box muffled the sound and the boy arrived and stepped right

on the snake!

It reared up, rattled his tail and was about to strike. The boy was

petrified. The other children arrived and froze at the sight too.

That is when Chappy, putting aside his fear of humans, came to the

rescue!

Prairie dogs may look a bit like actual Chicken McNuggets, but in reality,

they’re fast, skilled fighters armed with sharp claws and powerful teeth.

“The worst animal bite I’ve ever gotten was from a prairie dog,” said

the snake later that day as he returned to his snakey nest home.

The fight had only lasted a moment. Chappy stretched to his full height and did a little victory two step.

The children were of course, amazed!

When the dance was done, he realized he was surrounded by the

children. He dropped to the dirt and covered his eyes.

It was an old Prairie dog trick, as old as the hills! And it usually worked!

But not this time!

With the snake long gone and the danger passed, Hiram, standing next

to the box said, “This guy is a hero!’

The boy said, “Wait ’till I tell my Dad he saved my life! Maybe he won’t

want to vote to destroy this old lot if he knows I wouldn’t even be alive

if it wasn’t for this guy!”

“How about it, hero? Will you let us pick you up and take a box ride?”

said Carver.

Zeke said, “Can I carry the box?”

“Sure Zeke, you can help me carry it. That is, if this little guy will stop

playing dead and hop in on his own” And with that Hiram tilted the box

and gently prodded the prairie dog with the box flap.

Chappy took one look back and saw that his brother now had taken

charge of “Look-Out Duty” The other family members seemed to be

encouraging him.

And that was how Chappy, the “Prairie Dog that Was Afraid of his

Own Shadow” saved his colony. The town voted not to approve the

building permit after the motel owner’s wonderful testimony. Chappy

was given a metal for bravery and Sun Prairie Village was built on the

other side of town, which was a good thing. Because Kristy Bly, the

WWF senior wildlife conservation biologist arrived a week later and

told them they would have been fined thousands of dollars.

Of course, the children could not keep Chappy. And when Dad’s car

was repaired, their trip to Canada resumed. At least they had lots of

photos and a great story to tell their friends when they got home.

Chappy was happy.

He returned to his colony and enjoyed the new, improved title of “The

Prairie Dog that Was Afraid of his Own Shadow That Saved His

Colony”.

The End

Post Script

Thereafter the Prairie Dogs were often seen late in the evening and

locals claimed they were seen praising the Lord!

“Help support the grasslands. Adopt a prairie dog”