Prairie Dogs and Magpies

Two of the creatures that are in abundance here in the Denver area. Magpies are the local scavenger type bird beside the typical crows and ravens. Not a jay anywhere in sight. People around here take them for granted because they are everywhere but magpies really are a beautiful bird. Their black and white markings are very striking, especially when they take off for flight. I have to admit though, I kind of miss the blue jays but I am happy that we have another pretty bird to take its place. I'm sure when we eventually get to visit the mountains and more forested areas, I'll get to see the jays again.

When I think of prairie dogs I think of small chinchilla size creatures out in the Great Plains living in their colonies in the middle of nowhere. That is definately not the case. Every plot of empty land around here has a prairie dog colony in it. They are everywhere. In fact, if people decide to build on that piece of land they have to pay these specialists to come and remove the colony humanely before building. According to Dwayne's buddies at work, they plug up every hole they can find except one and then use a vaccuum type thing to suck up the prairie dogs out of the ground. I thought this was extremely funny. Dwayne then pondered how many "experiments" it took before they figured out just the right suction for the vacuum as to not cause damage to the poor prairie dogs. They are also much bigger than I expected. They are about the size of a chihuahua. Just lower to the ground and round. We live right next to a walking trail and creek which, of course, is surrounded by a couple of large open fields. Perfect prairie dog territory. The walk I routinely take with the kids always passes by this fairly large colony. We pop to the top of a hill and you can see a good 50 of the creatures scampering to the nearest holes as they are surprised by us. It is a fun thing to see and always gets the kids giggling. I'm sure there are more out there than I expect. They blend into the environment extremely well and are suited to the brown winter here in Colorado.