TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2024 VOLUME 98 ISSUE 12
NEWS
LA VIDA
SPORTS
NEWS
RISE’s Haley Wallace, program director of communication design and outreach, offers advice for breaking the ice with random roommates.
President Lawrence Schovanec recaps the previous year and details plans for the future.
Intramural sports offer students the opportunity to stay active and make friends through competitive play.
Candace Braun Davidson, author of a college cookbook, recommends microwave-safe recipes for oncampus cooking.
PG 4
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Illustration by Alessandra Rios
Prairie dog revival
Rodents resurface as city’s accidental mascot By NATHAN KENISON Staff Writer
As students walk onto Texas Tech campus for the first time, they may notice a peeking head or perhaps a little critter scurrying around campus commonly known as a black-tailed prairie dog. The curious ground squirrels seem like they’re all over, and if one drives a little further out to one of Lubbock’s local parks — they’re practically unavoidable. Although nowadays prairie dogs might be taken for granted, there was a time when their future in the Hub City wasn’t so certain. “The government was on a roll with poisoning prairie dogs in the early 1930s,” said Rob Weiner, a librarian and Honors professor at Tech. “So he (K. N. Clapp) established Prairie D o g To w n to keep the population alive in Lubbock, which still e x i s t s today.” Located in Mackenzie Park, Prairie
D o g To w n i s a s e v e n - a c r e enclosure surrounded by a low wall, designed for the protection, conservation and observation of its namesake species. Since Clapp placed just two prairie dogs in the park in 1935, their descendants have flourished into a thriving and active population beyond the local park’s perimeter. Clapp served as a chairman of Lubbock's Park and Recreation Commission and “Mayor” of Prairie Dog Town until his death in 1969. The City of Lubbock continues to maintain the attraction, which remains one of its biggest tourist draws, according to its official website. Having kept prairie dogs as pets for over two decades, We i n e r s a i d h e is continually amazed by their intricate systems of
communication and complex social structures. Although they are actually rodents, prairie dogs are named for the distinct barking sounds they use to relay information. “Each of their squeaks is a means of communication,” Weiner said. “For example, they could have a squeak that means ‘I see a man with a red shirt.’ They’re very, very intelligent.” It was because of this intelligence that Clapp sought to be as careful as possible when designing an escape-proof enclosure. He utilized a steel mesh that extended deep below the ground. Nevertheless, it does appear that the population has spread beyond the confines of the initial seven-acres, as prairie dogs can be seen popping up around the adjacent baseball fields in Mackenzie Park. Because of perceived environmental and agricultural concerns, Weiner said publicly funded poisoning programs in Lubbock still persist. However, in recent years,
biologists have declared prairie dogs a keystone species, i.e. organisms with a markedly large role in their environment relative to population size. Olivia Addams, a junior natural resource management major from Lubbock, said prairie dogs do more for the environment than just dig holes. “Some ranchers in other parts of Texas have said that removing prairie dogs can actually have a negative effect on livestock, because it can lead to the spread of brush and competing plant life,” Addams said. “So it’s all a balance … and removing them entirely can just throw off that environmental harmony in ways y o u could never really foresee.” Although prairie dogs remain a common sight in Lubbock, It is estimated that 98 percent of
the original black-tailed prairie dog population in the state has been lost. According to the Texas Tech Natural Science Research Laboratory website, some scientists estimate prairie dog eradication could occur during the first half of the twenty-first century. However, as populations continue to diminish across the state, Lubbock may serve as a future hub and haven for the resilient ground squirrels. At one point they were feared to be on the possible brink of extinction, and now they seem almost ubiquitous. Although it may have started with just a small conservation park, Lubbock is now one big prairie dog town
@NathanKenisonDT