[JCL]

In addition to the Beds prairie dogs, there appears to be a black-tailed prairie dog in suffolk. At the SWT Redgrave and Lopham Fen reserve on Friday, I saw that the noticeboard listed the species for the site - and even gave it a nickname (Paddy), implying it was a regular feature. Nobody around to ask - and during the downpour that coincided with my visit I didn't see it. I will email the Trust to find out more - but does anyone on the forum know more?

James

[Isurus]

While we're on the topic: The "Beds prairie dogs"? I thought there was only a colony in NI. Are these near woburn by any chance?

[JCL]

Details are on mark Telfer website

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by JCL

Details are on mark Telfer website

Do you have a link?

John

[John Cantelo]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Do you have a link?

John

This seems to be the place ....

http://markgtelfer.co.uk/

[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by JCL

In addition to the Beds prairie dogs, there appears to be a black-tailed prairie dog in suffolk. At the SWT Redgrave and Lopham Fen reserve on Friday, I saw that the noticeboard listed the species for the site - and even gave it a nickname (Paddy), implying it was a regular feature. Nobody around to ask - and during the downpour that coincided with my visit I didn't see it. I will email the Trust to find out more - but does anyone on the forum know more?

James

I recall a well-stocked prairie dog colony at Banham Zoo some years ago which is not soooo far from Redgrave: would require a longer-than-Colditz tunnel though

google says still at least one black-tailed there in 2005 http://www.welshwildlife.com/gallery...s/0013781.html

and a pic of the Redgrave beast: http://adventuresinredgraveandlopham...3/arrival.html

[JCL]

Dogging in Beds here http://markgtelfer.co.uk/2012/05/12/...-bedfordshire/ Also on Steve Ashton's blog but I can't find the link. Mark H saw them a few weeks back.

[Isurus]

Interesting.
I can remember in my childhood visiting a wildlife park in the UK (I want to say norfolk?) where prairie dog heads were popping up inside and out of their enclosure. Of course their enclosure was itself inside the centre of the park surrounded by additional fences.

[Farnboro John]

Sounds like a weekend trip coming up. Should be able to find the rape field anyway...

John

[JCL]

John - Mark has got the exact grid ref.

As for the Suffolk animal, SWT responded that "Paddy" (my heart sinks) is the 3rd prairie dog here since the 1980s, first seen mid-2011. Occurs halfway along the Great Fen woodland walk, in a field of grass (ref point is a large dead boundary oak with logs at the base - look beyond this into the field)

James

[Isurus]

Originally Posted by JCL

John - Mark has got the exact grid ref.

As for the Suffolk animal, SWT responded that "Paddy" (my heart sinks) is the 3rd prairie dog here since the 1980s, first seen mid-2011. Occurs halfway along the Great Fen woodland walk, in a field of grass (ref point is a large dead boundary oak with logs at the base - look beyond this into the field)

James

How bizarre. Is this a species where males break off to find/join new territories/colonies or something like that. It seems odd that 3 individuals should turn up at the same place if someone were not dumping unwanted individuals for some reason or something was driving odd ones to break out of a captive colony somewhere.

[ed keeble]

Originally Posted by Isurus

How bizarre. Is this a species where males break off to find/join new territories/colonies or something like that. It seems odd that 3 individuals should turn up at the same place if someone were not dumping unwanted individuals for some reason or something was driving odd ones to break out of a captive colony somewhere.

back on Banham/Colditz, here's a couple of clues..

"black-tailed prairie dogs have burrowed under enclosure wall at Banham Zoo, which has since been ineffectually blocked using loose bricks.."

http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zooreport..._FINAL_SML.pdf

plus Emmen zoo say that the praire dogs they imported from Banham are slenderer and better at escaping than the the rest of their colony..

http://www.jagran.nl/PrimoSite/show....5,169951,97487

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by Isurus

something was driving odd ones to break out of a captive colony somewhere.

Not so much odd ones.... smacks of Madagascar to me! Anyone seen any Zebras sprinting through the Brecks?

Prairie Dogs are natural escapers for obvious reasons - perhaps these three should be Tom Dick and Harry!

John

[Xenospiza]

The urban colony in Lubbock (Texas) is pretty much enclosed by a concrete wall but still there were a few "outside" as well.
Of course at one time the whole Texas Panhandle was a prairiedog town...

[Farnboro John]

I went to see the Bedfordshire Black-tailed Prairie Dogs today. Excellent value even if no tick! I watched them for about two hours while they fed almost continuously and kept a wary eye on a nearby Buzzard. The most I saw together was three.

This is the first time I've seen them "in the wild" but it looked to me as if one might be a youngster: it seemed to require quite a lot of body contact and muzzle nuzzling, was a bit smaller than the other two and less confident in the open.

There will be pix on John's Mammals later.

John

[Farnboro John]

Actually I decided to put pix on here, and if I duplicate them on JM later, what the heck.

John

[Newky]

Next stop..!