I beleive I have a prairie dog living under our shed in the backyard. What should I do?
Extension
Message
From:
Laura Kammin
Visiting Extension Specialist, Pollution Prevention
Extension-Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant College Program lkammin@illinois.edu
Prairie dogs are not known to occur in Illinois. I am guessing that you may have a thirteen-lined ground squirrel living under your shed. Information about this species is available at: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/wildlife/directory_show.cfm?species=groundsquirrel If this isn't the animal you are dealing with, or if you have other questions, please feel free to e-mail me.
From: Beverly Gardner
City: DeKalb, IL
I also just watched an animal near a cornfield that looked like a prairie dog. It was solid tan and a rat like tail but it was larger than a rat not quite as big as a squirrel. It sat up on its back legs to look around and eat. The face was very similar to prairie dog and used it front paw like little hands.
From: Xiaoqi Wang
City: Chicago, IL
It was true, i saw one animal like a prairie dog in the preserved forest in Chicago, too. It was not a squirrel nor a ground squirrel.
