Burrowing owls and prairie dogs have a very symbiotic relationship. The owls take over abandoned burrows that the prairie dogs are no longer using and they become neighbors. Both then take over watch duties for the neighborhood, warning each other about potential threats.
That does not mean, however, that conflicts don’t arise between the two. Both creatures are very protective of their families and the toleration they have for each other can be tested when one gets a bit too close.
Such was the case in this sequence of images taken back in June. Keeping watch near the burrow that housed its seven owlets, the male adult did not care for an adult prairie dog that approached. It raised its wings above its head and sounded an alarm, sending the prairie dog off the other direction.
