News Animals Courting Costs: Male prairie dogs seem too busy mating to dodge predators By Susan Milius October 11, 2006 at 11:15 am - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Mating season makes the normally fast and tough male prairie dog so preoccupied that he’s easy pickings for predators, researchers find. In a study of prairie dogs in the wild, a fox and a few goshawks caught adult males only during the short breeding season, says John L.