Diets of prairie dogs (Cynomys mexicanus) co-existing with cattle or goats

Diets of prairie dogs (Cynomys mexicanus) co-existing with goats or cattle were examined using microhistological fecal analysis in a 1-year study on a grassland of northern Mexico. Consumption of forbs was generally higher (33% versus 21% across all seasons; P< 0.05) in prairie dog diets co-existing with cattle compared to prairie dogs co-existing with goats. The diet of prairie dogs grazing with goats was based around grasses (79% of total forage ingested versus 68% for prairie dogs on the pasture grazed by cattle all seasons; P<0.05). In general, prairie dogs showed a higher preference for forbs in the pasture grazed by cattle than in the pasture grazed by goats. Data for dietary overlap (69% across all seasons) pointed to a moderate diet similarity between prairie dogs grazing with goats or cattle. Prairie dogs co-existing with goats had a higher (P<0.05) fecal N concentration in the fall than prairie dog co-occurring with cattle (2.4±0.1 versus 2.1±0.1). In spring and summer, prairie dogs in the pasture shared with goats had higher (P<0.05) fecal P concentrations than prairie dog co-existing with cattle (3.0±0.4 versus 2.5±0.2 and 1.6±0.1 versus 1.0±0.1, respectively). The results of this study indicate distinct differences in diets of prairie dogs co-existing with goats or cattle, although these foraging differences did not affect negatively the diet quality of prairie dogs (based on fecal N and P data) grazing with goats, despite the highly degraded range in this site. Prairie dogs showed a high feeding adaptability, which allowed them to meet their nutritional needs in a highly degraded site around the goat's pens in a settlement with communal grazing land.