Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-05-21
WHAT I SAW OUT WEST.
BY DAVID HILL.

Prairie dogs, genus of American
rodents, are little animals averaging
thirteen inches in length, color above
a reddish or cinnamon brown inter
mixed with black hairs and some with
| lighter tips, brownish white or yellow
underneath, tail like the back with a
black tip, and is the miniature wood
chuck found in abundance in many
| parts of the country west of the Mis-
souri, river. They live in large colo
MES. hundreds in the same district,
and have for companions the burrow-
ing owl, rattlesnakes, and In many
places a species of rabbit commonly
known as the cotton TAIL" Dozens
of them burroW in the same hole. AT
the mouth of their burrows the earth
is heaped up to height OF twenty
inches Or more, from the top OF which
the occupants can sit and survey the
country around them.
NV first experience with prairie
dogs was in the vicinity of Boulder,
Col, a neat and thriving little town
situated directly at the foot of the
Rocky Mountains. Starting out from
this place in the early morning, arm
ed and equipped with gun and am
munition, finally found myself after
long and tedious walk far out on
the prairie, and in what l considered
a not very desirable locality for game.
My first flush was a bird, meadow
lark, which l shot at and missed.
While berating myself over my seem
ingly poor piece Of craftsmanship,
became conscious of hearing numer-
Gus peculiar sounds in the air, which,
as near as [ can describe them, seem
ed to resemble the sharp chatter or
yelpings Of small dogs. Looking
sharply around me - the ground on
all sides was stony, barren, covered
with cactuses, thistles and misera-
BILE variety of prairie grass soon
discovered dozens of little animals,
some sitting upright on the ground,
some running in one direction, and
some in another, all excited, and, as
was easy to perceive, greatly displeas-
ed over my sudden appearance. In
an instant I OWNED my close proxim-
ity to prairie dog village and deter
mined to shoot one of them for
specimen. Putting shells with No.
shot into my gun, and confident that
I would experience no difficulty IN
procuring shot, began to advance
directly upon their works. oL @.sa
I.soon realized, however, that Ihad
reckoned without, mine shost.eL ASH
approached them they. would disap-
pear. The little fellows drew their
line of sociability at fifteen rods; and
each one of them seemed very partlc-
ular to keep inside of those limits. L
passed directly through their colony,
which covered several acres, and ev-
cry dog before I could get within
shooting distance, went out of sight;
but the moment l had passed and was
we'll out of their reach, ;. they would
bob up again as serenely asoeYer.VAt
last I stationed myself near one Of
the holes containing dozen or more
and endeavored to tire them out.
They seemed to appreciate SO much
kindness on my part and took adVan-
tage of the opportunity to rest. Then,
thinking they could smell me, per-
haps-every one has particular odor
peculiar to themselves, you know-I
went to windward of them, built up
barricade out of stones and crawled
in behind it. fancied that, once out
of sight and with little waiting, my
patience would finally be rewarded
with success. For two long hours 1
hung to that barracuda and not sim
gle dog showed up. All around me,
| however, just outside of gunshot, they
danced and frisked about, yelped and
acted like horde of wild imps. 1t
! was exasperating. Finally, just to
| experiment a little, walked some
twenty rods away from the hole I had
been watching, then turned to look
back and waited the results. In less
than five minutes those little plaques
crawled out, sat upright upon their
launches around the hole, and, re-
gardless of my feelings, winked and
blinked at me just as audaciously as
YOU please. Noon arrived; the sun
was scalding and I was hungry; but
dinner or no dinner, I was determin-
ed to shoot prairie dog, or, to use
heroic expression, "perish in the at
tempt" I glanced around me. Off TIC
the west was a barbed wire fence and
leaning against the fence was an ole
barrel On the opposite side of the
barrel, and not five rods from the
fence, reposing quietly upon the little
| Of no.