• Support PDP
  • About Us
  • Wild Prairie Dogs
  • City Prairie Dogs
  • Volunteer
  • Shop
  • History
  • PDP Documentation
  • Contact PDP

Prairie Dog Pals

Dedicated to the Preservation of Prairie Dogs and their Habitat

Architecture of a burrow

May 1, 2010 by PDP

Architecture of an Artificial Burrow

 artificial burrow

The picture to the left illustrates one example of an artificial burrow.  PDP uses a slightly different design.  We use a 25-gallon, plastic nursery pot for what we call the nesting box (described in the illustration as the “initial burrow chamber or room”).  We attach a ten-foot long tube to the side of the upside-down nursery pot for an entrance/exit tunnel, as shown.  Our second tube, unlike the one in the picture, we install through the top of the nursery pot, extending down into it so that the end of the tube sits a few inches above the base.  We dig a hole in the ground roughly four feet deep, lay a piece of hardware cloth in the bottom, and then set on that the upside-down nursery pot with attached tubes.  The hardware cloth prevents the prairie dogs from digging out of the nesting box, while the tubes allow them to climb to the surface.  When we release the prairie dogs, we usually send them down the vertical tube; gravity encourages them to proceed to the bottom rather that stopping in the tube and causing a traffic-jam.

After inserting the prairie dogs into the artificial burrows, we place a containment cage (we call them cage caps) over each egress tube.  We continue to feed and monitor the prairie dogs for up to five days.  This gives them a chance to acclimate to their new surroundings.  Then we remove the cage caps and allow them to “escape” from the artificial burrows.  Able to come and go as they please, they continue to use the man-made burrows as a refuge from predators and for temporary shelter until they can construct their own burrows.

Information about Prairie Dogs, PDP Operations Tagged: artificial burrows, burrows

« Previous Page
Donate Now
Tweets by @CynomysRex

Categories

  • Conservation
  • Donate
  • Fun
  • How You Can Help
  • Information about Prairie Dogs
  • News
  • PDP Operations
  • Shop
  • Wildlife

Tags

artificial burrows behavior black-footed ferret black-tailed prairie dogs breeding Burrowing Owls burrows cage caps colonies Conservation disease ecology Endangered Species Act events feeding flushing fundraising gophers Gunnison habitat handouts hantavirus hibernation humane pest control keystone species landscape design language nesting box newsletter outreach owls photos plague poison Prairie Dog Coalition Prairie Dog Day predators rabies relocation Sevilleta shooting squirrels trapping volunteer white-tailed prairie dogs

Links

  • Albuquerque Pet Memorial Service
  • Animal Protection New Mexico
  • Animal Protection Voters
  • Bosque Farm Relocation Project
  • Great Plains Restoration Council
  • Midwest Prairie Dog Shelter
  • New Mexico House Rabbit Society
  • New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
  • Pathways: Wildlife Corridors of NM
  • Prairie Dog Coalition
  • Southwest Veterinary Medical Center
  • VCA Veterinary Hospital
  • Wild Earth Guardians

© Copyright 2015 PrairieDogPals.org | Help a Prairie Dog Today!