page_title: Prairie dog
section_title: Literary descriptions
hierarchical_section_title: Prairie dog / Literary descriptions
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: commerceofpra02greg (find matches) Title: Commerce of the Prairies; or, The journal of a Santa Fe trader, during eight expeditions across the great western prairies, and a residence of nearly nine years in northern Mexico Year: 1850 (1850s) Authors: Gregg, Josiah, 1806-1850 Subjects: Indians of North America -- West (U.S.) Southwest, New New Mexico Mexico -- Description and travel Santa Fe National Historic Trail Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W, Moore Contributing Library: New York Public Library Digitizing Sponsor: MSN View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: age, the little dogs maybe observed frisking about the streets—passing from dwelhng to dAvelling appa-rently on visits—sometimes a few clusteredtoo^ether as thoudi in council—here feed-ing upon the tender herbage—there cleansingtheir houses, or brushing the little hillockabout the door—yet all quiet. Upon seeinga stranger, however, each streaks it to itshome, but is apt to stop at the entrance, andspread the general alarm by a succession ofshrill yelps, usually sitting erect. Yet at thereport of a gun or the too near approach ofthe visitor, they dart down and are seen nomore till the cause of alarm seems to have dis-appeared. Two other animals appear to live in com-nnmion with the prairie dogs—the rattle-snakeand a small owl;^ but both are no doubt in-truders, resorting to these burrows for shelter,and to feed, it is presumed, upon the pupsof the inmates. * This has been called the Coquimbo oid. Its note, whethernatural or imitative, much resembles that of the prairie dog. Text Appearing After Image: mo o G a&lt; O E- w s THE HORNED FROG. 231 Hattle-snakes are exceedingly abundantupon these plains&#160;: scores of them are some-times killed in the course of a days travel;yet they seem remarkably harmless, for I havenever witnessed an instance of a mans beingbitten, though they have been known to crawleven into the beds of travellers.^ Mules aresometimes bitten by them, yet very rarely,though they must daily walk over considera-ble numbers. The horned frog, as modern travellers havechristened it, or horned lizard.t as those ofearlier times more rationally called it, is themost famed and curious reptile of the plains.Like the prairie dog, it is only found in thedry regions, often many miles from water.It no doubt lives nearly, if not wholly, withoutdrink. Its food probably consists chiefly ofants and other insects; though many Mexi-cans will have it, that the camaleon (as theycall it) vice del aire—lives upon the air. Ithas been kept several months without par-taking of a particle of a Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Prairie dogs are herbivorous burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. The five species are: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in North America. In Mexico, prairie dogs are found primarily in the northern states, which lie at the southern end of the Great Plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas. In the United States, they range primarily to the west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales. They are also found in the Canadian Prairies. Despite the name, they are not actually canines.
context_section_description: From George Wilkins Kendall's account of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition: "In their habits, they are clannish, social, and extremely convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over each other's affairs—at least so their actions would indicate. On several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of his neighbors it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor, or chief—at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community. During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles. All this while he never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a gravity in his deportment not discernible in those by which he was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of the village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the prairie dog."
  From Josiah Gregg's journal, Commerce of the Prairies: "Of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious, and by no means the least celebrated, is the little prairie dog. ...The flesh, though often eaten by travelers, is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the 'barking squirrel', the 'prairie ground-squirrel', etc., by early explorers, with much more apparent propriety than the present established name. Its yelp, which resembles that of the little toy-dog, seems its only canine attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground betwixt the rabbit and squirrel—like the former in feeding and burrowing — like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, and somewhat so in its barking. The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists a species of the marmot (arctomys ludoviciana); yet it seems to possess scarce any other quality in common with this animal except that of burrowing. ...I have the concurrent testimony of several persons, who have been upon the Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they issue from their holes every soft day; and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of 'hay' (as there is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of their towns) for winter's use. A collection of their burrows has been termed by travelers a 'dog town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to some thousands in the same vicinity; often covering an area of several square miles. They generally locate upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass, upon which they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous. But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly to destroy this within their 'streets,' which are nearly always found 'paved' with a fine species suited to their palates. They must need but little water, if any at all, as their 'towns' are often, indeed generally, found in the midst of the most arid plains—unless we suppose they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to dig or drown them out of their holes have generally proved unsuccessful. Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed frisking about the 'streets'—passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on visits—sometimes a few clustered together as though in council—here feeding upon the tender herbage—there cleansing their 'houses,' or brushing the little hillock about the door—yet all quiet. Upon seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to
caption: "Dog Town" or settlement of prairie dogs, from Commerce of the Prairies
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