"Prairie dogs act together to ensure each others’ safety. While the group forages and maintains the burrows, one or more individuals act as a sentinel keeping watch for danger. The sentinel will give a loud alarm bark if a predator approaches and the group will head for the safety of the burrow." ~ onekind.org
We were fortunate to observe this action as two bald eagles flew over the prairie dog colony we were photographing. This fellow immediately ran to the top of the hill, stood up on his hind legs, stretched his head upward and let out a piercing, high pitched scream. Not being fluent in prairie dog language I'd have to venture a guess he was saying, "Run, run, the eagles are coming!"
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