IT'S ANOTHER YEAR OF HOPEFUL NEWS from Redondo Meadow. Sadly, we cannot call it a victory quite yet in this post-plague colony. Mariana did not see a single juvenile this year, despite there being eight females of breeding age. The fact is there is not a single adult male who has established a territory at the Redondo colony, so it’s a lot to ask for a roaming male to find his way to these lonely females. But still we have a few survivors from last year’s litter (now yearlings) who refuse to go down without a fight. Many of last year’s prairie dogs have gone missing, but all of RR’s littler (two females and one male) are still hanging about. Though the chances are stacked against them, Mariana is confident this colony will bounce back in the coming years. Prairie dogs are resilient, and it takes quite a lot to keep a colony down.