This little fellow is a prairie dog. Prairie dogs are cute and social. Once they were found everywhere
across the Great Plains of America, but with the pioneers
conquering ever more land, the prairie dogs
days of freedom were numbered. And once in a while, they are struck
by one of the deadliest diseases humankind has ever experienced:
the Plague. Wait, what? Let's start from the beginning. Contrary to what their name suggests,
prairie dogs are not actually dogs, but a type of rodent. They're a kind of ground squirrel
of which there are five different species. All five are native to
North America's grasslands, with their habitats ranging from Wyoming
in the West to Kansas in the east, and from Saskatchewan
in the north to Mexico in the south. Even though their territory
may look impressive, their numbers have dwindled. 200 years ago, there were over 5 billion
prairie dogs living on the Great Plains in an area of nearly
3 million square kilometers. The Lakota Native Americans lived
alongside them in harmony. But with the pioneers slowly moving west, things changed for the worse
for the prairie dogs. Rangers and farmers considered them
a pest and hunted them in their billions. They especially hated the prairie dogs
for digging burrows in the ground, claiming that cattle and horses could
trip in the holes and injure themselves. But that's just a myth. Scientists have spent years asking
ranchers about burrow-related accidents and haven't found a single
documented example. Still, the pioneers thinking had bitter
consequences for the prairie dogs. Today, only 2%
of their original number remain. And the rodents still can't live in peace. Prairie dog hunts can be
easily booked online all year round. A recent study found that about
1.5 million black tailed prairie dogs were shot in a single year in South Dakota. And that's highly problematic: Prairie dogs
aren't pests – quite the opposite. They're a keystone species
of North America's grasslands. Prairie dogs are very social animals
and usually live in family groups. These make up gigantic colonies
called prairie dog towns, which can reach a size of 50
to up to 250 individuals. Each group inhabits one burrow
with multiple entrances and exits. A typical prairie dog burrow
takes a lot of digging as it can be 5 to 10 meters long. Prairie dogs are masters of recycling, reusing old or abandoned burrows
and improving them wherever possible. The burrows don't just serve
as a place to rest at night, but they also shelter
the prairie dogs from enemies. And at a depth of two to three meters, they help them survive
sweltering summer heat as well as bitterly cold winters. And when courting begins, the burrows
are where they get down to business. Prairie dogs mate once a year, usually in early winter. The female then gets busy preparing
her burro for the addition to the family, usually about 2 to 10 tiny pups. When spring makes its welcome appearance,
so do the pups above ground. After spending a long first winter
in a snug dark burrow, they can finally stretch their legs
and enjoy the sun. With all the youngsters
emerging from underground, it suddenly gets very busy in dog town. The pups join together
to their first real meal of grass, seeds and even small insects
after being reared on their mother's milk. And between bites of grass,
there's time to play. As a keystone species, prairie dogs
play an important role in the food chain. Swift foxes and golden eagles,
American badgers, coyotes and rattlesnakes all consider
the rodents a welcome meal. They are, however, not an easy meal. Prairie dogs are wary
and always on the lookout, As soon as they spot a potential threat, their shrill alarm calls
sound across the plains. That also explains why they keep the grass
around their burrows short and well-tended. So predators have a hard time
catching them unawares. But prairie dogs are more than just food. Their digging helps grass development
and promotes the renewal of topsoil. Their extensive excavation work leaves
a lot of dust and soil on the surface, which is just perfect for the bison. These giants still roam
the plains in their thousands and love to roll on the ground,
shaking off unwanted pests and getting a good scratch
from the Earth and stones. Because there are pests here, making not only the bison itchy
with insects, but also the prairie dogs. And for them, this isn't just
a minor nuisance, it's deadly. It's the Plague. The Sylvatic plague in prairie dogs
is caused the same bacterium that causes the bubonic plague
in humans: Yersinia Pestis. It spread through flea bites. In prairie dogs, the Sylvatic plague occurs
at regular and predictable rates in specific areas and populations. When population numbers are skyrocketing, for instance, when milder winters
have optimized the pups survival, the number of plague victims
suddenly goes through the roof. And it's during these outbreaks
that humans are most at risk of catching the plague from prairie dogs. Fleas can easily transfer
from prairie dogs to cats and dogs or humans out in these areas. While the bubonic plague decimated Europe's
population at various points in history, today it's a much rarer occurrence. From the 1950s to the 1980s,
most cases were recorded in Asia. Since then, the majority of infections
and deaths have occurred in Africa. In the U.S., an average of
7 human plague cases per year have been reported in recent decades. But thanks to antibiotic treatments,
the plague is no longer a death sentence, as it was in the dark Middle Ages. But what about
the cute little prairie dogs? Are they doomed to die left untreated
while we humans stay safe thanks to the achievements
of modern medicine? Over the past few decades, scientists have developed methods to save
the charming rodents from the Black Death. The technique includes spraying all
burrow entrances with insecticide dust, which is intended to keep fleas at bay
or kill them off before they can smack on the prairie dogs. While it's laborious work
to apply the insecticide, it is one way of helping
the prairie dogs battle a disease that was introduced
to their ecosystem by humans. It's one way to take action and to try to remedy
what we have done to them. Check out more stories
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