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From the Tunnel of Love?

Denise Flaim | Animal House

September 12, 2000

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TO RANCHERS IN TEXAS and other parts of the cattle-obsessed West, they are pesky varmints who can overrun an expanse of land faster than any suburban developer.

But to the animal lovers who have taken these ground squirrels into their homes and their hearts, prairie dogs are the ultimate "yuppy puppy."

"The reason they make such good pets is they're a colony animal," says Betsy Callis of Rutherfordton, N.C., who got her first prairie dog a year and a half ago. Now she has three as pets, as well as two rare all-white ones that she hopes to breed. "A lot people say they're like 2-year-olds: They want to do whatever you're doing-and make a huge mess in the process."

Indeed, prairie dogs' very interdependent social structure in the wild transfers readily to humans, whom the prairie dog soon considers its home group, or "coterie." When one of its people walks in the room, a common prairie-dog response is to stand up and yell hello with the "yahoo-ing" bark that gave them their name. Hugs and kisses are then enthusiastically dispensed. Since prairie dogs are obsessively clean in the wild, digging latrines specifically for that purpose, they're easy to housebreak.

Denise Flaim Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

As with most species, there are differences between the sexes: Generally, males are more loving and possessive of their owners, while females are more accepting of outsiders and have a reputation for busyness, making daily rounds to ensure, in Callis' words, "that the couch is still in the living room and the beds are still in the bedroom."

But the prairie dog's family focus has its downside. Strangers may be perceived as intruders and attacked. (If a prairie dog's tail frizzes to resemble a pipecleaner, and it's yelling, a bite is probably imminent.) These creatures-which weigh 3 to 4 pounds, about the size of husky guinea pig-are so fastidious, "if you rearrange your room, you can flip out your prairie dog," says Callis. "They're like, 'Hey, who rearranged the burrow?'"

Add independent to the list, too. Callis cautions against letting a prairie dog run around on the floor for the first year, since it might yell at you if you pick it up. If that happens, Callis suggests placing the offending prairie dog in an empty trash can-round only, please. "If it's a square trash can, they pout in the corner, which makes them feel very satisfied." After 15 minutes in solitary, Callis assures, your chastened prairie dog will greet you with raised arms and an apologetic "Yahoo, yahoo."

If all this sounds like a lot of work, it is.

"They make good pets, but not for children. They're not like mice- they live eight to 12 years and they need a lot of interaction," says Brian Marder, a veterinarian at the Roslyn/Greenvale Veterinary Group in Greenvale, who spays and neuters many prairie dogs before they are sold at local pet shops.

Which brings us to the sex thing: From October through February, male prairie dogs rut (become sexually excited in preparation for breeding). "If you do not have a prairie dog fixed," Callis warns, "sometimes it can go into automatic pilot and they can forget they love you." Male prairie dogs undergo a Jekyll and Hyde transformation, becoming hyperaware, ornery and unwilling to be handled. As for the girls, they go into nesting overdrive. "Give them half a day," says Callis matter-of-factly, "and they'll burrow a tunnel through your couch."

Even during those seven months of the year when your prairie dog is his lovable Dr. Jekyll self, there are other caveats to keep in mind: Though they subsist nicely on fresh hay and fruits and vegetables, prairie dogs can get obese from overfeeding, which seriously affects longevity. Their bedding must be free of lint and other airborne particles to prevent respiratory problems. And be sure to buy only black-tailed prairie dogs that have been hand-raised and extensively socialized; white-tailed prairie dogs are true hibernators and are not as social.

Despite all the drawbacks, "they're addictive," concludes Callis, who worries that prairie dogs will become fad pets. Then again, their growing popularity has rescued them from a worse fate at the hands of ranchers, many of whom would otherwise exterminate them. For a time, the animals' popularity as a pet in Japan prompted a rash of prairie- dog burrow sucking, in which industrial-powered vacuums were used to dislodge juveniles from the burrows. Flooding the burrows is also popular, if cruel. The more humane approach is the trickle method, in which a small amount of water introduced to the burrow induces its residents to head to the surface.

Though some caution that prairie dogs are so devoted they can never be rehomed, both Marder and Callis say many can adapt to new owners.

Still, Marder underscores the commitment needed with one of these fiercely loyal pets by recounting the story of a very attractive female client with a male prairie dog who obviously loved her very much.

"The thing would not allow any human male in her bedroom," he remembers. "She was really dedicated to that prairie dog."