The Prairie Dog Incident

     In early August, we had driven all over the park. We drove the entire Grand Loop, which I believe is around 140 miles, and there's a lot to see so it took a few days to get through. Coty works Wednesday through Saturday, so we have three days to mess around and go where ever. We got back one evening from driving through Hayden Valley, which is where the Buffalo mate in their August Rut. We parked the car, and Coty only drove it to and from work, which is maybe a half mile up the road. I noticed prior to leaving to drive the Grand Loop that weekend, Coty had came home and after he shut the car off, something under the hood squeaked. I thought nothing of it until the next Saturday Coty got off work, I heard it squeak again. He didn't believe me that the car was making a noise, because apparently I give off that "nutsy koo koo" vibe. Anyway, my dog Tank was freaking out at the car. He was trying to crawl under it, he was attempting to scratch at my bumper and as he did so, the squeak got louder. I trust my dogs nose and ears over mine any day, but if he heard it then I definitely wasn't crazy.
     As we opened the hood, we looked down in to the bumper of my car and saw nothing. I was trying to think where something could hide in my bumper if it were small. I have an air horn that my Dad and I installed a few years ago that I've replaced probably 3 times since, and there's a decent pocket down in there. As I looked at a different angle, something was staring back at me and did it's squeaking noise, which also happened to sound like a loose drive belt on a vehicle, except the car was off.
     It was a Prairie Dog living in my bumper, and it was pissed off. It wouldn't come out, not with Tank freaking it out or us poking at it. Finally we found a metal rod type thing that was about two feet long and skinny, so Coty shoved it down in there and whacked it on the head. He didn't hit it hard, just enough for it to get the hell out of my bumper. It jumped out and ran out the back of my car in which case our neighbor, Dan, was sitting outside drinking beer. That P-Dog (or P-Dog-like animal) ran straight for Dan and got within a foot of him, in which case Dan began to flail (yes, I mean FLAIL) his arms and legs like a crazy person, never losing a drop of beer. That P-Dog was gunning for him, and at the last second it went around him and under his trailer, never to be seen again.
     Luckily it didn't eat through any wires, or make a nest, but that P-Dog drove ALL over the Grand Loop with us, and lived in my car for a week. Coty thinks he picked him up at his work up the road because he saw one of those little creatures hanging out by my car.
     Needless to say for about a month after that incident, Tank checked every bumper on every car we came across. He still looks under my car now and then, and has ever since become Squirrel crazy.