The Prairie Dog: Sentinel of the Plains

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding writing and photography
Review: The author talks about the life of the prairie dog, and how it interacts with humans in the modern West. The book is illustrated with gorgeous photographs. This book is an excellent purchase for a readable overview about these animals. If you want to know the full details on how prairie dogs get along with each other, check out the Hoogland book on social behavior of prairie dogs. It is great, but not as easy to read as this one!

Rating:
Summary: Vividly illustrated with more than 100 color photographs
Review: Vividly illustrated with more than 100 color photographs, The Prairie Dog: Sentinel Of The Plains also contains highly informative text about the nature of these gregarious rodents, and how they function in the prairie ecology, from aerating the soil with their burrows to controlling invasive types of vegetation with their grazing. The delightful illustrations show the prairie dog's natural exuberance and social life, but the text warns that human poisoning and extermination has vastly reduced the prairie dog's numbers to the point where the species could be at risk. The Prairie Dog is very highly recommended for anyone with an interest in prairie ecology.