Chapter Four

A Balancing Act

Meanwhile, Prairie Dog Jake was down in Prairie Dog Town in one of the listening rooms near the entrance. There was no way he could bare to hear Buffalo Susan brag on and not say anything. So, he popped out of the burrow’s hole.

Coyote Fionn could smell a prairie dog coming and his ears got all twitchy with excitement. His mouth began to water. He could almost taste the fresh blood and meat. As you can imagine, he was pretty disappointed when he saw that the prairie dog was Jake. Despite being a coyote, Fionn, like the rest of them, still had enough of his human sense to not want to eat another classmate no matter what form the classmate might take.

Prairie Dog Jake said, “Oh wow, who would have thought that meek little Susan could be so full of herself.”

“Careful, Prairie Dog,” answered Buffalo Susan. “All I have to do is start a little stampede with my friends over there and you’re one flat dog.”

Prairie Dog Jake considered this. “Whatever,” he said. “I have friends too, and we actually work together, not like some mindless herd. We have a whole town under here. Our town has neighborhoods, and these neighborhoods are made up of tunnels and burrows. There are rooms for sleeping, rooms where we store food, and even rooms where we go to the bathroom. In fact, prairie dogs have a whole life going on underground. It takes a lot of teamwork and organization to do all this. You’ve got to ‘play well with others,’ not like a coyote who is sneaky and usually on his own.”