The killings of March 5, promptly termed a âmassacreâ by Patriot leaders and commemorated in a widely circulated engraving by Paul Revere, aroused intense public protests and threats of violent retaliation. This pressure caused Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson to withdraw the troops to an island in the harbor.
Prairie dogs belong to the squirrel family, Sciuridae, which includes squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots, in the Mammalian Order Rodentia. Their scientific name is Cynomys ludovicianus, which means dog mouse of Louisiana. The Black-tailed prairie dog is 12 to 15 inches in length and weighs between 2 and 4 pounds.
One litter per year. Behavior: Black-tailed prairie dogs are social and live together in large aggregations called colonies or towns. Within a colony a family unit of prairie dogs, known as a coterie, consists of 1 adult male, 2-3 adult females and all of their young less than 2 years old. Coteries can number 1-26 individuals (average 6) and occupy an area up to 2.5 acres (1 hectare) but typically average 1 acre (0.4 hectares) in size.