Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: burrow

Yes, these two little things live in captivity with quite a few others, at the Calgary Zoo. They look rather like Richardson's Ground Squirrels that are wild in Alberta, but these are in fact Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. 'They are found in the Great Plains of North America from about the USA-Canada border to the USA-Mexico border. Black-tailed prairie dogs are frequently exterminated from ranchland, being labelled as a pest. Their habitat has been fragmented, and their numbers have been greatly reduced. Additionally, black-tailed prairie dogs are remarkably susceptible to plague." From Wikipedia. Their Conservation Status is Least Concern. "Canada’s remaining population of black-tailed prairie dogs can only be found in southwest Saskatchewan around Grasslands National Park." (Calgary Zoo info).

Suddenly decided to upload Saturday's images tonight - well, actually it's about 1:15 a.m. on Saturday morning. I have a whole day of botanizing again tomorrow (plus some clean-up), this time south east of the city at the Nodwell Sanctuary (i.e. a few dry hillsides plus some wetter wooded area at the bottom of the hills). I didn't want to send my best wishes for Father's Day later tomorrow evening, when the special day is just about over, so thought I'd better post it at the unearthly hour of 1:15 a.m.. I still haven't got all my stuff ready for tomorrow yet! So, Happy Father's Day to all you Dads out there (for Sunday 20th June) and to those of you who will quietly think of your Fathers who are no longer living. My own Father died about 33 years ago - people called him an exceptional photographer and he was the one who awakened my interest in photography (for which I am truly thankful every day). Everyone has or had a Father, so the day means something to each and every one of us - very different things for some compared to others. I hope that YOUR memories will be happy ones. A special Father's Day wish to my son, Steven, who is a really great Dad to his bright, smart, amazing 9-year-old son - oops, sorry, that's the Grandma in me talking, LOL! These three adorable baby Richardson's Ground Squirrels will find (or may have already found) that their Dad goes into hibernation any time soon, LOL. So much for having a Dad to look up to and spend time with. Seen at the top of the steep Weaselhead hill, North Glenmore Park. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson's_ground_squirrel