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New in the neighborhood
prairie dog main
One of the residents of the prairie dog town at 10th and Coolidge in Great Bend enjoys the sun in this file photo. The prairie dogs are causing some concern with city officials.

There is a new subdivision at 10th and Coolidge in Great Bend. The area dubbed Farmers Bank Plaza is the location of a prairie dog town and on a recent afternoon, the residents were peeking out of their burrows, out sunning themselves and searching for a mid-afternoon snack. According to Pam Martin, educational specialist with the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, they are pretty incredible critters, with different warning calls for different predators. Prairie dogs can alert one another, for example, that there’s not just a human approaching, but a tall human wearing red. A rodent and relative of the squirrel, Barton County is on the eastern fringe of their mid-grass prairie habitat. They can be fun to watch, although one has to be patient and let them get comfortable, and in a couple weeks, their new-born young will be roaming around.