Happy Tuesday and Tuesday Show and Tail

My sister Pat, who went to heaven in 2001 was married on this date in 1957.Here is a baby photo of her with our dad. She was his first born and the apple of his eye. Photo 1937.

My sister was the oldest and here she is with brother Bill and brother Ed . This is 1946.

My sister's wedding day. I was not quite three years old so you won't see me here. Cousin Ron, far left and the bride and groom are no longer residents of this earth. My brother Bill, cousin Charlotte and cousin Jeanne are still here along with our sister Mary and cousin Sharon.

My sister was so beautiful. She had a kind heart and so did her husband Gary. They lived many places while he was in the U.S. Army.

I wanted to share my sister with you for Happy Tuesday

These little prairie dogs reminded me of the fun we had with Tuesday Show and Tail. I Know they are not friend to farmers and ranchers and horses and livestock. But they have been slaughtered and forced out of their homes underground for years. If you knew them like I do you would see how very smart they are. Here are 8 facts about prairie dogs:
1. They are tough. They have very powerful teeth, are skilled fighters and have very sharp claws.

2. Their entire mating season is just one hour long in the winter. The female has 3 to 8 pups and only half will usually survive.

3. They live in tight knit family groups called couteries. Males often jump ship to other couteries but females stay together for life.  There are usually one or two breeding males and several females. Also the females new pups.

4. Their vocabulary is more advanced than any other animal language that has been decoded. to us they may sound squeaking, high pitched and repetitive but actually they can alert one and other to danger. For instance, instead of saying a human is approaching their burrow they say a human wearing the color blue.

5. They are cousins to your backyard squirrels and also groundhogs, chipmunks, marmots and woodchucks in their biological family of relatives.

6. Their historical range has shrunk to just 5%. Humans invade their spaces and take away their homes. They are smart little creatures. I Hate seeing them wiped out.'

7. They are still threatened by the same plague that caused the Black Death in Europe. Rats came over  to North America on European ships carrying the disease. They are still threatened by it today as it can wipe out an entire colony.

8. Black footed ferret depend on the prairie dogs. We are working to protect both of them.  Prairie dogs are the primary food source and habitant for the black footed ferret. At Fort Belknap Indiana Reservation in Montana. Tribal partners  are collaborating with WWF to monitor the prairie dog colonies. In 2015 new black footed ferrets were released into a healthy prairie dog colony and they quickly darted down the holes.

OH Maxine!