In hot pursuit of a family affair

Affection prevails among the cuddly prairie dogs, which are ground squirrels that live in the grasslands of North America— or more precisely, under the grasslands. The stout herbivores dig elaborate burrows below the ground surface where numerous families can reside. These “towns” are vital to the well-being of the community, because prairie dogs are extremely social creatures. They’re also awake all throughout the long winter, like their cousins the tree squirrels, which also do not hibernate. And what’s a mammal to do to while away the hours till spring? For even with many conspecifics around, it can be hard to meet your match. For prairie dogs, it’s a numbers game: The more mates, the more offspring, as nothing makes for a large family like multiple mates. Both males and females are polyamorous; however sometimes one male is not able to regulate his bevy of females, and in that case two males may end up coregulating (not always a harmonious arrangement). Competition is fierce, and nature abhors a vacuum, so someone is always ready to fill a vacant spot. As for the myriad progeny, does it take a whole village to raise a child? Prairie dogs are communal breeders that will help to raise one another’s offspring. Unfortunately sometimes the village razes a child: When a new male shacks up with a female, he may kill a previous male’s young. But females are also guilty of infanticide: A lactating female might kill the young of one of its female relatives in order to reduce competition for its own offspring, as well as to relegate the now-bereft female to the role of mother’s helper. From an outsider’s perspective, such brutal and self-serving comportment may well seem to be born of the madness that close quarters can breed.