Welcome to Lubbock where we are staying in a RV park that is home to a field of very vocal Prairie dogs which are driving Miss Poppy crazy!

Prairie dogs are a type of burrowing squirrel, native to the grasslands of North America. On average, these stout rodents grow to about 12 to 16 inches long, which includes a short tail and they weigh-in at around one to three pounds.

Prairie dogs are highly social and live in large colonies and collections of prairie dog families that can span hundreds of acres. Members of a family group interact through oral contact or “kissing” and grooming one another, but they do not perform these behaviours with prairie dogs from other family groups.

They are mainly herbivores feeding on grasses and small seeds, though they do eat some insects. They live below ground in burrows which help control their body temperature and enable them to watch for predators from the burrow’s entrance. Their burrows are highly organized and have nursery chambers for their young, chambers for night, and chambers for the winter. They also contain air chambers that may function to protect the burrow from flooding and a listening post for predators!

Prairie dogs watching out for Poppy!