☹️ But I don't want to go to bed all winter... Our idea of the 5 stages of Utah prairie dog hibernation: Photo 1. 😑 Denial: I don't need this sleep. The weather is fine. I'm not tired. There’s *plenty* of grass. Photo 2. 😩 Barking: Are we seriously doing this!? Black-tailed prairie dogs on the Great Plains don't have to hibernate! Yeah, well they don't live at 8,000 feet do they? Photo 3. 😒 Pouting: I'll just lie here and the snow can bury me. My thicker winter fur can grow itself. You can't make me do anything else. Photo 4. 🫢 Acceptance: Wow, is that frost? I'm feeling a little... underweight... Gosh, let's pack on a few more ounces and call this a year. Photo 5. 🥱 Hibernation and emergence: The sun...my eyes...that strange dream. What is this life? Is anyone mating yet? 🗓 The time to see Utah prairie dogs is growing short! Adult males have likely already begun heading below ground, and females and juveniles will have mostly followed by the end of the month. With little to no parental responsibilities, males have the whole summer to gain weight, which allows them to enter hibernation as early as September and emerge in February or March to start establishing territory and mating opportunities. Adult females and juveniles must stretch out the summer and delay hibernation, having been occupied with either pup rearing or simply being the pup, they need extra time to catch up and gain the weight needed to survive the winter. Are you feeling ready for seasonal changes wherever you are? #WorldAnimalDay NPS Photos/Dan Ng (pd)