Sage rat identification?

[Heyjoe]

Isn't that the term used in drinking establishments at 2am closing time?

That one flew way over my head.

 

[Stomper]

That one flew way over my head.

The only thing left to pick up at a bar towards closing time… "whistle pigs", 'cuz all the cute ones have already left….



Good lord, help me endure!

 

[Heyjoe]

The only thing left to pick up at a bar towards closing time… "whistle pigs", 'cuz all the cute ones have already left….



Good lord, help me endure!

Ha thanks for the explanation.

One more thing…..What's a "whistle pig"?









Kidding!

Some know me as slow joe, now you know why.

 

[Stomper]

Ha thanks for the explanation.

One more thing…..What's a "whistle pig"?









Kidding!

Some know me as slow joe, now you know why.

It's a close cousin to the Alaskan "closing time" tundra pig…. but that's a different story all together!

 

[Hooyah DeepSea]

It's a close cousin to the Alaskan "closing time" tundra pig….

OR, is it more like a NW Washington 'Bremelo' . . .

 

[SUPER X]

The only thing left to pick up at a bar towards closing time… "whistle pigs", 'cuz all the cute ones have already left….



Good lord, help me endure!

Don't forget NIGHT HOGS .They come in after midnight.and leave with their victim before last call lights are turned on.

 

[Stomper]

OR, is it more like a NW Washington 'Bremelo' . . .

Don't forget NIGHT HOGS .They come in after midnight.and leave with their victim before last call lights are turned on.

But they all run in what some refer to as , "pods, packs, and sounders".

 

[Spitpatch]

Certainly not a Prairie Dog. Definitely a "Sage Rat" ,as they are called here in Oregon, though in past times here they were called "Picket Pins" (and Steve exhibits by posture why). In Montana they are simply called "Gophers".

Prairie Dogs are about 2 and a half times as big as a Belding's or Richardson's Ground Squirrel, though Steve is certainly a large specimen, and may actually (this time of year) be a "Stephanie" knocked up. In comparing stature between the species, think Danny DeVito/Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Twins".

As to Plague, on the ranch in Montana where I hunt, the Prairie Dog towns were expanding logarithmically until 4 years ago. I have seen populated towns that encompass more than a half-mile square, with all vegetation eradicated, resembling pictures of Iwo Jima after preparatory bombardment.

4 years ago, I arrived for my yearly month-long Safari with the customary guns/bows for Deer and Antelope, along with a number of weapons for the Dog Towns. Early on, on a pleasant evening I embarked toward the nearest known Dog Town to camp only to find no citizens present. Checking two more towns, saw a total of two Prairie Dogs.

At the first opportunity I spoke with the son of the ranch owner, and praised him for his efforts at poisoning (though disappointed regarding my shooting sport, I knew the Dogs were a nemesis to the property). He looked at me quizzically, then advised, "In April, they came out just like always in tens of thousands. By the end of May, they were ALL gone: Plague". I was floored. My Dog Guns got no work that year or the next.

But, in the last couple years the little vermin are starting to come back. I'm doing what I can to keep the ranch family happy, but I am no match for the Black Death.