Idaho Panhandle

There are few things, better on a warm August day, than floating in a clear mountain lake in whatever conveyance you have on hand.  I was lucky enough this week to spend three days floating on Priest Lake in Northern Idaho in a bright yellow floaty chair alongside Tom in his. The lake, formed by an ancient glacier, is supplied with snow melt from the surrounding mountains each spring. The water is the clearest I have ever seen.  I took a picture through the water of the pebbles below the surface, and the water is barely visible. 

We also did some hiking while we were there, and happened by a prairie dog colony in what appeared to be the septic field for the state park.  As we walked by, several popped their heads up to assess “the threat” and report to the others.  Back at our campsite, we saw what looked like a smaller version of the prairie dogs we saw earlier.  This one looked like he was on his own, and there were no other burrow holes nearby.  Upon investigation (thanks Google), we learned that ground squirrels look like small prairie dogs and often live alone or in small groups.  Prairie dogs live in larger colonies with extended family .  They are social and playful with each other, share lookout duty and environmental resources. They are also among the few mammals that kill but do not consume.  In other, more dramatic terms, they are murderers. 

Ground squirrels and prairie dogs are animal “cousins” and so have a similar diet and habitat requirements.  At some point, prairie dogs figured out that if they eliminated ground squirrels from their environment, they would have more resources for their colony.  When prairie dogs and ground squirrels are in the same area, the prairie dogs will actively hunt the squirrels and kill them.  I suppose that is the main reason that the ground we saw at our campsite was about a half a mile away from the prairie dog colony.

* By the way, in the great outdoors, everything is about a half mile away as in “the turn in the trail is another half mile or so”, “ the trail to the lake is about half a mile that direction’ or, “ you missed the turn in the trail about a half mile back”. *

I was very surprised to learn this little fact about one of the cutest little creatures on the planet.  They are pretty sophisticated in their community building and social system.  I would think that they could come up with some better way to insure sufficient resources for the colony.  On the other hand, humans are arguably more advanced than prairie dogs and we are one of the other few mammals who kill without consuming and often for the very same reason. How many wars have been fought over resources (oil, food, land, gold)?  Maybe we could figure out a better way and clue the prairie dogs in.

Tomorrow, we are going to get our brake pads replaced before we climb back over the Rockies on our way east. Once we hit the prairie again, my 12 week post op period will be up and I can begin to help with the driving.  I am sure I will look at the prairie dogs we pass on the road a bit differently.