At just a few days old and on his first adventure outside of his underground burrow home, it's little wonder that this tiny prairie dog pup overindulged on tasty snacks and needed to lie down.

Surrounded by fresh fruit and vegetables that were almost as big as them, the pup and his siblings weren't shy in tucking in to their lunch while out playing with their mother.

Two of the siblings even nibbled on the same lettuce leaf as they enjoyed their healthy meal.

Animal loving photographer Jen Lockridge spent more than an hour watching the pups play with their mother at Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.

Jen, from Annapolis, Maryland, said: 'I was amused to watch the younger pups sitting in the exhibit surrounded by animal chow that was almost bigger than them.

'The prairie dogs are fun to watch as they are very active and clever.'


The black-tailed prairie dogs live in family territories called coteries.

There's usually one male, around three females and their babies in each group.

A typical female gives birth to three or four pups a year.


Jen, 40, added: 'As they remain in the exhibit most of the time, going underground at night, the staff weren't aware of the multiple births until the babies started emerging from the holes in the ground.

'They are still not sure exactly how many there were.


'This is the first time I'ver ever seen so many smaller pups at one time.'

Photographer Jen was there when the Prairie Dog Town exhibit opened at the zoo back in 2010 and she said that within minutes of moving into their new home the mischievous little animals started climbing and jumping over the walls.
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