Danustouch
July 12th, 2003, 10:41 AM
A year or so ago, John and I decided to take home a Prairie Dog from a local pet store. I read up on it ahead of time, and most of the sites that I read said that Prarie Dogs are high maintenence pets, but very loving, and easy to get along with. We felt sorry for the poor little critters..there were at least 12 of them crammed into a tank at the pet store, and I felt so bad that I just had to bring one home to "rescue" him. To say the least, it was a nightmare. He was so cute, and I quickly fell in love with him. But..the problem began when he started biting his cage. We'd gotten him a three level "condo" type cage, to give him plenty of room. We furnished it with rocks, twigs, old t shirts, cardboard, ropes and such for toys, cheweys, and to give him a feel of "natural habitat". We got Prairie Dog Food, and Prarie Dog treats, and we even gave him fresh veggies and stuff which were reccomended for prairie dogs. We would even block off the kitchen for part of the day, and let him out of the cage so he could run around a bit. But..despite all that, Taz, our little prarie dog, was unhappy. He never wanted to go back into his cage, and would bite at it constantly. From the moment we went to bed, til about four in the morning, he woudl bite the cage, making such an incredible amount of noise that we couldn't sleep. Not to mention, he was beginning to rub his nose raw. At first, I was very patient. I would spend alot of time with him, giving him lots of holding, and petting, which was reccomended. But..it shortly began to drive me up a wall. I was losing sleep, and my patience. We were just considering finding him a new home, or returning him to the pet shop by that point. One day, While we were still in the "considering stage", I had blocked off the kitchen as normal, and was letting him run around. The phone rang, and I went into the other room to answer it, and when I came back, he was gone. Absolutely vanished! I checked the whole house, everywhere I could think to look for him. I noticed that one of the kitchen windows was open part way, but I hadn't a clue as to how he would get up there, nor fit out the narrow opening, but even so, I checked below. Three flights up. I thought for sure that I would find him laying on the ground below the window..dead. But I didn't. We found no trace of him. The cats would have found him if he were still here, or ..we would have "smelled" him by now if he had died in our home. And I searched outside..and still didn't find him. We came to the conclusion that somehow, he had survived his fall, and was living a lone prairie dog life outside.
I know that the climate in North Dakota isn't TOO much different than our Climate here in RI. I also figured he'd have been able to forage enough food to sustain him. But still, I was doubtful. With all the natural predators for him out there, I was sure we would never see him again.
The other day, we were outside barbequing, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large, round, bay colored creature, not a beaver, not a muskrat, not a rabbit, sitting on the stone wall which borders our garden. I was SURE it was him.
It looks as if our prairie dog lived a whole year by himself, out there in the wild. In a way, I feel good about that. He's no longer caged at all. He's no longer crammed into a tank with 12 other prairie dogs, and he's got the wildnerness to sustain him.
Do you think I should call the animal welfare, or something, and let them know that he's still out there somewhere? Or just leave him to his happiness?????
I know that the climate in North Dakota isn't TOO much different than our Climate here in RI. I also figured he'd have been able to forage enough food to sustain him. But still, I was doubtful. With all the natural predators for him out there, I was sure we would never see him again.
The other day, we were outside barbequing, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large, round, bay colored creature, not a beaver, not a muskrat, not a rabbit, sitting on the stone wall which borders our garden. I was SURE it was him.
It looks as if our prairie dog lived a whole year by himself, out there in the wild. In a way, I feel good about that. He's no longer caged at all. He's no longer crammed into a tank with 12 other prairie dogs, and he's got the wildnerness to sustain him.
Do you think I should call the animal welfare, or something, and let them know that he's still out there somewhere? Or just leave him to his happiness?????