ODESSA, Texas — They gathered as the children they are near the statue of a cowboy-hat wearing Prairie Dog in Prairie Pete Playland Park. But they left radiating the best qualities of adulthood ...

Odessa`s plan to poison its prairie dogs was derailed last year by the West Texas Humane Society ... The club built Prairie Pete Park and transplanted 20 of the animals into a quarter-acre ...

A visit to prairie dog towns in Odessa ... books: "Texas Wildlife Portfolio," "Texas Gulf Coast Impressions," "Backroads of the Texas Hill Country" and "Enjoying Big Bend National Park." ...