![]() They will find some precious object that attracts their fancy, especially shiny objects, whereupon they may decide to drop whatever they happened to be carrying and exchange it for the more valuable object. I recalled reading about pack rats in the desert. I wondered: what animal built this curious house? What animal would collect such odd paraphernalia as shiny rocks and cow dung? It had to be an animal that was big enough to carry and stack these objects along with the pieces of cactus. Also piled up on top of the mound on several sides were rocks, some shiny pieces of metal, and stacks of dried cow pies. Perhaps these contributed structural integrity to the house walls, but likely the sharp needles protected the mound by discouraging predators like badgers, swift foxes, and coyotes from digging out the nest. Buried in with the dirt and strewn over the surface were segments of old cholla covered in spines. The dirt mound had multiple entrances each about three inches in diameter. It measured about six feet in length, at least three feet wide, and about 20 inches high. ![]() Presumably the dirt was brought up from subterranean chambers. Whereas most burrows I find were simple penetrations into the ground with some loose dirt around the lip, this structure was constructed above the surrounding surface, formed from dirt built up into a mound underneath and around the base of a cholla cactus. ![]() As I walked, I pondered the sheer abundance and diversity of wildlife that lives on the prairie, often remaining unseen.Īfter a while, weaving among the shrubs and cacti, I came upon a very strange structure, something I had not seen before, at least not of this size. I also found burrows for a rabbit warren, a badger den, and a couple of old swift fox dens. I found the burrows and tracks of several rodents such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, voles, and mice. Also, were the entrances open or closed? Were the burrows found in clusters like a colony? Were there fresh signs of activity like tracks or scat, and so on. As I zigzagged across the prairie, I could identify various animal burrows by the size and shape of the entrance. I usually find fox dens on the outskirts of areas with a high density of rodent burrows. However, other burrows were relevant, as these animals (mostly rodents) are the primary prey of the swift fox. One winter day, I was surveying different burrows and den sites on Chico Basin Ranch looking primarily for active swift fox dens.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |