Brian Griffith's Blog - Posts Tagged "prairie-dogs"

The plains used to hold over a billion prairie dogs, who lived in concentrated “cities.” These cities, or dog towns, took up about 12% of the whole central prairie, and these were the places of best grazing. Rather than eliminating the grass, the dog towns aerated the soil and made passageways for rain to run into the ground. The buffalo and antelope herds used to spend much of their time eating at one “gopher garden” after the next. Wherever the prairie dogs are no longer exterminated like rats, the range tends to support more plant life.
War and Peace with the Beasts: A History of Our Relationships with Animals