Clever and bored - a bad combination
From the
Baltimore Sun:
Prairie dogs return to Md. Zoo
It took just 10 minutes for a dozen prairie dogs to outwit the creators of the Maryland Zoo's new $500,000 habitat.
Aircraft wire, poured concrete and slick plastic walls proved no match for the fast-footed rodents, the stars of a new exhibit that opens today.
As officials were promoting the return of the zoo's 28 prairie dogs - their former digs had been out of sight in a closed section of the animal preserve for more than four years - some of the critters found ways to jump, climb and get over the walls of their prairie paradise, a centerpiece exhibit just inside the zoo's main entrance.
None got away, but for a few anxious minutes, they found every weakness in the enclosure built to hold them. Zookeepers had to bring out nets to catch escapees.
Heh -- that would have been fun to see. Critters can be a lot more creative at problem solving than we give them credit for. Intelligence is not just speech and memory...
Posted by DaveH at June 13, 2009 8:46 AM