Prairie dog of Bodmin

It looks like an overgrown guinea pig. But the really odd thing about this creature is that it seems to be about 4,000 miles from home.

The North American prairie dog was photographed in Cornwall by Godfrey Stevens, 58, and his wife Linda, 48, as they walked the isolated Goss Moor nature trail, 13 miles from Bodmin Moor - home to the fabled Beast of Bodmin. Newquay Zoo identified it as a female, black-tailed prairie dog which probably escaped from a private collection.

‘We had decided to take a walk along the nature trail when we noticed this strange animal lurking near a drain,' said Mr Stevens, an electrical wholesaler from Penzance. ‘I love wildlife, that's why we were there in the first place, but neither of us had ever seen anything like it.

‘We expected we might see some nice wild flowers, but this was a real surprise for us. We just couldn't believe our eyes.

‘It was sniffing around the entrance to a drain and would occasionally stand up on its hind legs.

‘I was very confused because I knew it was not a weasel or a stoat but for the life of me I couldn't work out what it was.

'We weren't sure what it was - it reminded me of a marmot (a large ground squirrel). It was up on its hind legs with its nose in the air.'

'If I went within about eight feet of it, it would run up one of the drainage pipes. But if I waited for about five minutes it would come out again,' he added.

The area where they spotted the animal lies just 13 miles from Bodmin Moor - the scene of many sightings of strange creatures over the years including the wildcat Beast of Bodmin.

But at just a few inches high, this latest Cornish mystery can not exactly be described as a beastly. Yet it certainly is unusual.

Prairie dogs are normally found more than 4,000 miles away in grassland areas of America and Canada where they live in packs. For one to be discovered in the UK is rare and the only explanation can be is that it has escaped from captivity.

Experts at Newquay Zoo, where the photographs were identified, said there was no doubt they showed a female, black-tailed prairie dog. Stewart Muir, managing director, said: ‘It is unusual but it is not as uncommon as people think.

‘Prairie dogs have been kept in captivity for here for a very long time, since the 1800s.
‘They usually live in big colonies and they dig a lot so it is easy for them to escape and live in areas in the wild.

‘The reason they do so well in our country is that they are native to North America, which is temperate climate.

‘They are not dangerous animals and they are strictly vegetarian.

He said that although he has never heard of one in Cornwall they do sometimes escape and colonise areas of the UK. ‘It is most likely that this one has escaped from a private collector.
They would not make very good house pets but they would be easy enough to keep in the garden. But then they do dig, and escape.

‘There are no plans to capture the creature - he seems to be living there quite comfortably.

‘One of two are not likely to have much of an impact.’

Earlier this year one was discovered underweight in a field in Lincolnshire where it was found nibbling on sugar beet.

It was taken in by animal lover Julie Stoodley after the RSPCA caught it. She said: ‘They need warmth, lots of attention and a specific diet of grasses, hay and root vegetables.’

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