Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/406

* PBAmiE DOG. 344 PRAJAPATI. ther and fartlier away for food. This they dis- like to do, as it exposes them to attack from enemies; and after a time they prefer to dig a new burrow nearer a supply of food. Tlius a 'town' is always spreading and contains many empty burrows. Like other animals lialntuatcd to desert regions, they do not drink at all, and the early belief that subterranean pits were dug by them, down to a water supply, has been proved erroneous. Artesian wells within dog- towns have failed to strike water as often as elsewhere. The animals are diurnal and most active morning and evening. They come out daily during the winter, except when it is very stormy; but this practice varies with the latitude and climate. They are prolific, especially in the southern half of their territory, and would multiply with excessive rapidity were it not for numerous enemies, especially rattlesnakes and other ser- pents. These are courageously resisted by the prairie dogs, which sound the alarm the moment a snake enters a hole, gather, and proceed to fill the entrance with earth, packing it down, thereby sometimes entombing the snake forever. Prob- ably few snakes go down the passages, which are so steep they could with difficulty climb out, but depend upon lying liidden in the grass and strik- ing down the young squirrels when out at play or in search of food. This is the method of the eoj'ote, kit-fo.x, wildcat, hawks, and owls, who find the dog-towns a profitable hunting ground. Badgers, however, can, if they will, easily dig up a burrow and devour the helpless family. The worst enemy is the black-footed ferret, a weasel of the plains, which easily penetrates the bur- rows, and against whose ferocity and skill the squirrels can make little defense. Every prairie- dog town is also tenanted by many little bur- rowing owls (q.v. ). All these conditions together served in the natural state of things to hold the prairie dogs in check, but the changes brought about by civilization have been so favorable to these little animals, by the reduction of their enemies on the one hand, and the augmentation on the other hand of their food-supplies by the farmers' plantations of meadow-grass, alfalfa, and grain, that they have increased into a very serious pest. Dr. ilerriani stated in the Ycdrhook of the t'nited States Department of Agriculture for 1001 that colonies 20 to 30 miles in length were then not rare: and one in Texas was known to cover an area of 2500 square miles, with a probable average of 25 holes to an acre and of one animal to each hole. At this rate the prairie-dog population of this district would be 40.000.000: and on the carefully studied estimate of students that 250 squirrels will devour an- nually the same amount of grass as a cow. the pasturage consumed liy this great colony would support about llJO.OOO cattle. When such a colony spreads over a district devoted to farming the loss is increased, for the space occupied by their mounds is a W'aste of valuable land : the animals are likely to cut irrigation canals, drain- ing off the water, and they devour the planted crops, especially of alfalfa. Both the Federal Government and local authorities have tried various methods for relief, but are almost help- less in view of the large spaces between cul- tivated districts, where the pest can only be over- come by public and united effort, and also by cooperation among the ranchmen. The squirrels may be killed by poison in various waj's : but best by the use of bisulphide of carbon. A tea- spoonful of this chea)) liquid is placed upon some absorlient .substance (a nodule of dry horse-dung or lialf a corn-cob will .serve the purpose well) and dropped down the hole, Which should then be stopped with earth. The fumes are heavy, sink into the depths of the burrow, and kill the in- habitants. Bisuliihide of carbon is not only poisonous, but infiammable and explosive: it should be kept in cans or bottles, tightly corked, and never opened near fire. See Plate of GOPHER.S, Lesimincs, axd !M.rmots. PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, pra're du shf-n. A city and the county-seat of Crawford County, Wis., GO miles south of La Crosse; on the ilis- sissippi River, and on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Chicago, llilwaukee and Saint Paul railroads (Map: Wisconsin, B 5). It has a College of the Sacred Heart, and Saint Mary's Institute for Girls. The ruins of old Fort Crawford, built in 1825, are of historic interest ; and the mineral springs in the vicinity make Prairie du Chien of considerable impor- tance as a health resort. It is the commercial centre of a fertile agricultural section, and nianu-. factures woolens, pearl buttons, pickles, barrels, egg cases, veneer, etc. Population, in 1.S90, 3131 ; in 1900, 3232. Xear Prairie du Chien a fort seems to have been built by the French as early as 1G89, but this was soon abandoned and another was built in 1755. The present settlement dates from 1783. The village and fort were surrendered by the English to the L^nited States in 17S0, though they were again captured during the War of 1812 and held until 1816. Prairie du Chien was first incorporated in 1872. Consult: Durrie, Anmds of Prairie du Chien (Madison, 1872), and an article, "Early Days of Prairie du Chien," in the Wisconsin Historical Society Collections, viil. V. ( JIadison, 18(i8) . PRAIRIE POX. The kit-fox (q.v.). PRAIRIE PIGEON, or Prairie Plo-er. A local name in the Western United States for both the golden plover and the upland 'plover' (a sandpiper) . PRAIRIE RATTLESNAKE. Tlie small rattlesnake, or massasauga {•Sistnirus catcna- lus), of the prairie regions of the Central United States. See Rattlesnake. PRAIRIE WARBLER. A wood-warbler {Dendroica discolor) of tlie Eastern United States, olive-green above, spotted with dull red, j and lower parts rich yellow, with conspicuous black streaks upon the cheeks and along the sides of the body. It frequents brushy districts, and its habits, song, nest, and eggs resemble those of the common yellow warbler. Consult Coues, Birds of the yorthirest (Washington, 1874). PRAIRIE WOLF, or Reu Wolf. The coyote. PRAJAPATI, pni-j:i'pa-te (Skt., lord of be- ings). The name of a Hindu divinity. In the Rig-Veda the word is used also as an epithet of Savitar (q.v.), the revivifying aspect of the sun, and of the- invigorating Soma (q.v.). Prajapati's character was essentially that of a creator, and he thus became not only a synonym of Brahma (q.v,), but also, when Brahma's creative godhood