Prairie Dog
A ground squirrel that lives in towns and has one of the most detailed alarm calls known, with different sounds for different predators. It greets by kissing.
Overview
Prairie dogs live in towns and talk to each other in a way that is genuinely unusual. Research on Gunnison's prairie dogs found their alarm calls carry information not just that a predator is coming but what kind, and calls have been shown to encode labels for predator colour as well as distinguishing a hawk from a coyote from a dog. Other prairie dogs respond differently depending on which call they hear.
That is an animal built for a colony, and one kept alone is missing most of what it is. They weigh 1.5 to 3.3 pounds, live eight to ten years, and they dig, constantly and seriously, because in the wild the burrow system is the town.
Temperament
Affectionate with their own group and increasingly assertive as they mature. Prairie dogs greet each other by touching mouths, they groom together, and a hand raised one bonds hard to its keeper.
The change at sexual maturity is the part that catches people out. Adults become territorial and can bite seriously, particularly during the breeding season, and neutering helps but does not turn a colonial rodent into a lap animal. Keep at least two, and expect them to be loud.
Care and grooming
Grass hay in unlimited amounts, high fibre and low protein, with a small quantity of a suitable pellet. They gain weight easily and obesity brings the same problems it does in a rabbit.
The disease history is worth knowing plainly. In 2003 a shipment of African rodents into the United States infected prairie dogs at an Illinois vendor, and the animals sold on from there caused 47 confirmed and probable human monkeypox cases across six states. The CDC banned African rodent imports, and the domestic restriction on prairie dogs was later lifted in 2008, but state rules still vary a great deal.
Living and exercise
Somewhere to dig, or it will make somewhere. A prairie dog with no digging outlet works on carpet, drywall and furniture, and it is strong enough to be effective at it.
A large enclosure with deep substrate, tunnels and things to climb, plus supervised time out. They are diurnal, which makes them easier to share a house with than most of this shelf, and much harder to ignore.
Something here wrong or out of date?