Not only do the rodents’ alarm calls tell others about the type and size of approaching predators, but they also seem to warn of the colour of an imminent threat (Image: Rick and Nora Bowers/Alamy)
PRAIRIE dogs talk some pretty colourful talk. Not only do their alarm calls tell others about the type and size of approaching predators, but it seems they can also warn of the hue of an imminent threat.
Gunnison’s prairie dogs are burrowing rodents that live in the grasslands of North America. Con Slobodchikoff of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and his colleagues had previously shown that they produce different alarm calls…
