Prairie Dogs

But farmers then had a prairie-dog problem - sometimes those little dogs would claim a pasture and all but take possession. Papa battled them for a few years. I don't really know who won. But I do know Papa was never able to capture one of the creature's though he tried various methods. He tried twisting them out of their holes with barb-wire. No good. It rained hard once. Papa put on his yellow slicker and out in the rain dug trenches to turn the water into a dog-town, expecting anytime to see some little dogs come out and surrender. But no. Papa didn't yet know they had miles of tunnels underground and were well prepared for floods. Grandma Freeman was coming soon for a visit and Papa was determined he'd have a prairie-dog in a cage for her, but he failed.

I liked to go to the pasture with Papa and see the prairie-dogs sit up on the mounds of earth and bark and bark, then scamper to their holes. Just one movement toward them, or a rock thrown, and down into the holes they went quicker than one could blink an eye. The prairie-dog towns were pretty but a big nuisance. A cow or horse stepping in a hole could very easily break a leg.
- Excerpt from 'I Remember Papa', Irene Rountree, Oct 1981