This news story has all the necessary components to be a great Choopie Blog story: dumb humans, smart animals, an escape & capture climax and then a happy-ever-after ending. Today's story is about some very smart prairie dogs. A Maryland zoo spent $500,000 to build the dogs a new home. They matched the 80 truckloads of soil exactly so it would feel like their old home. They made sure the depth of the sand was 6-8 feet deep to let the burrows be far enough under the frost line. The zoo people even made sure that the sand was poured into a concrete lined hole so they could not dig their way out. The big day came and the doggies were released into their new environment. It took just 10 minutes for a dozen of the critters to figure out a way of escape! Fortunately zoo keepers captured them with nets before they flew the coop. Slippery plastic walls and more wire fencing was added to the enclosure to keep the crafty pups inside their new home. I am the same size as a prairie dog. I wonder if they would let me into their pack?
