TEXAS — At first glance, a sprawling field behind gates at the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge appears empty. But when a vulture comes swooping over, the land erupts in high pitched squeals. It’s prairie dogs alerting each other of danger.
“I think they’re so cute and adorable, and they remind me of little cats,” said Tommy Tavarez, who’s watching the prairie dogs. “I saw two of them right next to each other playing.”
“They’re a favorite part of the refuge,” said Dr. Jared Wood, with the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge. “They’ve been here for decades.”
But in 2015, they vanished from the nature center.
“By the end of that year, they were gone,” said Wood.
Prairie dog town in Fort Worth became a ghost town.
“No one really knows what happened,” said Wood. “They suspect disease, cold, wet weather might have played a factor in the demise.”
Wood and a team from the refuge drove out to West Texas and launched a two-year project to bring the prairie dogs back.
“What we had to focus on was let’s find colonies in need of rescue and let’s start there because at least we can give them a chance,” said Wood.
So far, about 100 prairie dogs have burrowed into the ground here.
“The first colony we introduced has reproduced twice and the colony we introduced last year reproduced for the first time,” said Wood. “These are great signs of success that this project will persist into the future.”
The rest of this land will benefit from the prairie dogs too.
“You see increases in bird diversity, invertebrate diversity, even the bison like to feed in prairie dog towns,” said Wood.
Prairie dogs: a small creature with a comeback story much bigger than the animals themselves.
“Many people come and they see the prairie dogs and it’s just an instant connection and instant wow that’s what nature can do,” said Wood. “This place is Fort Worth’s greatest natural gem and a prairie dog is just another way to get that message out that this is special to Fort Worth and North Texas.”