Of course you can post my question when you get the listener feedback loop posted. My boyfriend’s son found another site that said that the rear-end sniffing was a greeting, but it didn’t say whether or not it was between both males and females, nor explain the tussle. As they seem to be very territorial during the mating season I’m guessing that it was two males.

Take care,
Anne

Thanks for your email. We’ll soon have a “Listener Feedback Loop” page on our website, and with your permission, I’d like to post your question. Perhaps someone with experience observing prairie dogs could answer. My response would be that you have pegged the two explanations that most field biologists give us for this sort of observed behavior. Anything else from me would be a guess.

Regards;
Jim Metzner