4/20/00
By MIKE NORTON
Record-Eagle staff writer
PETOSKEY - Bob Beair never intended to
become the Ann Landers of prairie dog owners. That's just the way things seem to be
turning out.
"It's gotten out of hand, actually," said the
32-year-old graphic artist and designer.
Beair started a personal Internet Web page
(http:/www.angelfire.com/id/beairpaw/index.html) to publicize his airbrushing work.
But he and his wife, Jill, also happen to own a pair of
black-tailed prairie dogs, and their page has quickly evolved into an international
clearinghouse for information on the sociable little rodents.
These days, Beair finds himself fielding anywhere from 50
to 150 e-mail messages about prairie dogs a day from fanciers and fanatics as far away as
Europe and Japan.
"We hear from people who've gotten prairie dogs for
the kids or who've gotten them as pets, and who really have no idea how to care for them
or what to feed them," he said. "Others just send in funny stories or exchange
photos, but there's a lot of interest out there."
Prairie dogs are wild, ground-dwelling relatives of the
squirrel, chipmunk and gopher that live in the western areas of North America, and have
recently become popular as exotic pets. Typically, they're 12-16 inches long, tan to pale
brown in color, and weigh anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 pounds at maturity. In captivity they
can live as long as eight years, though three to four years is more common.
Of the four species of prairie dogs in the United States
the black-tailed, which lives in dry lowland prairies, is the most common pet. The Beairs
bought their first prairie dog, a youngster named Andy, 2.5 years ago and quickly realized
Andy was much more than a hamster.
"They're a little high-maintenance as pets go, and
they're really intelligent," he said. "You can't just put them in a cage,
because they're very sociable and they really need companionship. Every day you have to
bring them out and play with them."
Soon the Beairs were corresponding over the Internet with
other owners, exchanging pictures and anecdotes and advice. It wasn't long before Bob was
asked to become the moderator of a news list for prairie dog owners, through which he
became acquainted with veterinarians, naturalists and environmentalists working to protect
the nation's remaining wild prairie dog communities.
A century ago, there were an estimated 5 billion prairie
dogs in the United States, but the loss of habitat, disease and eradication efforts by
western ranchers have seriously reduced their numbers.
The Utah prairie dog is listed as a threatened species, and
activists in Colorado are trying to have the black-tailed prairie dog added to the
threatened species list. There are also attempts under way to relocate endangered prairie
dog communities to remote areas where they run less risk of conflicts with humans.
"But we're also trying to save as many as we can by
interesting people in them as pets," said Beair. "Most of these animals come
from prairie dog communities that are about to be destroyed."
In the wild, prairie dogs live in large "towns"
of several hundred individuals, and they're naturally gregarious. Last spring, the Beairs
bought a second "pd," a female named Bobbi, and they let the companionable
little animals sleep in their bed at night. (Like cats, prairie dogs can be trained to use
a litter box, and they can be taken out on a leash just like little dogs.)
But they're not cats, and they're not dogs - they're wild
animals, and it's not always easy to own one. Males, in particular, can be skittish around
strangers, and when the autumn rutting season begins they can become downright nasty.
"It's not for everyone, and not everyone should own
one," said Beair. "That's another one of the reasons we're out there."
index / andy, bobbi & ny / prairie dog friends /
priarie dog index / wild prairie dogs /REB's Airbrushing / Airbrushed Vehicles / Gizmo the Sugar Glider / REB's S-10 / Jill's Sebring /
wedding pictures / local pictures
