National Geographic Kids USA - May 2017

Lives in:Grasslands of Canada,

the United States,and Mexico

Likes:Digging and dozing

Ifwildanimalsusedsocialmedia,what

wouldtheysay?Followthisprairie

dog’sdayasitupdatesitsfeed.

6 a.m. 11:37 a.m.

11:35a.m.

5:45 p.m.

B

SnakeRattleNRoll

At least you don’t live in that prairie

dog colony that has,like, 400

MILLION members!

BYBYBBYAALLLLLYSYSYSONONONONSSHAHAWW

FRIENDS

PlainsPup

SnakeRattleNRoll

Slither for your lives!

CoolCanine

At leastSnakeRattleNRolldoesn’t

move in and then cover the entrance

with dung from other animals!Cough

...UnderOwl...cough...

UnderOwl

But with so many members maybe

it would be a partyowlthe time.

#OwlPunsAreBetterThanCoyotePuns

GERRY ELLIS / GLOBIO / MINDEN PICTURES (PRAIRIE DOG PROFILE, ALL); NATURESDISPLAY / GETTY IMAGES (COYOTE PROFILE, ALL); ROB TILLEY / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (OWL PROFILE, ALL); ROLF NUSSBAUMER / GETTY IMAGES (SNAKE PROFILE, ALL); GAMEGFX / SHUTTERSTOCK (CARTOON FACES, ALL); INGO ARNDT / MINDEN PICTURES (PRAIRIE DOG NEAR BURROW); JURGEN AND CHRISTINE SOHNS / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (OWL NEAR BURROW); JASPER DOEST / MINDEN PICTURES (SNAKE TAIL); ROLAND SEITRE / MINDEN PICTURES (COYOTE)

BLACK-TAILED

PRAIRIE DOG

SnakeRattleNRoll

I nearly shook my

rattle off! It usually

shakes about 60

times a second to

scare predators,

but I think it just

broke a hundred!

Western Diamond-

back Rattlesnake

SnakeRattleNRoll

UnderOwl

Only when I’m

nesting! It’s not like

I can leave my eggs,

so I use the poo to

lure dung beetles

to my door. It’s like

ordering dinner in!

UnderOwl

Us too! My chicks can imitate

SnakeRattleNRoll’s sound when they

feel threatened. It sounded like the

burrow was a snake shack!

PlainsPup

Ugh, that was an

early alarm! But I’m

on dirt-moving duty

today. Got to keep

my colony’s burrow

entrances clean—all

70 of them!

PlainsPup

Yo u’re such a den crasher.

PlainsPup

HAWK! HAWK! Run for cover!

#WatchDog

CoolCanine

400 million

pack mates?

That sounds

awooooooo-ful.

Get it?

#CoyotePuns

SnakeRattleNRoll

Hey, thanks! It’s so thoughtful of you

to clear out the house from time

to time since I like to hang out

in abandoned prairie dog holes.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS 31

PlainsPup

PREDATOR UPDATE: It was

just a very hawk-shaped cloud.

PlainsPup

Aw, man! My sister ate my dinner again.

Living with family can be rough. I have to

share everything—my burrow, my food.

Coyote

CoolCanine

Burrowing Owl

UnderOwl