Black-tailed prairie dogs clawing their way back in southern Arizona Popping out of its burrow, a black-tailed prairie dog seems a natural part of this grass-covered expanse. It would seem natural, that is, if the hole into its burrow weren't a plastic tube. Or if a cage weren't keeping it from going anywhere fast. Or if two people from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, camping nearby, weren't keeping an eye on it through binoculars. Seventy-four black-tailed prairie dogs were brought here in early October from a ranch in New Mexico. They're starting out in acclimation pens on 10 acres of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, 45 miles southeast of Tucson. While not everyone around here celebrating their arrival, Game and Fish biologist Kyle McCarty said prairie dogs are key to this area's environment. It's the prairie dog's ability to dig — and dig and dig — that benefits the environment, he said. Prairie dog burrows aerate the soil, help water reach aquifers faster and provide habitats for other species, and the creatures' waste fertilizes the rangeland grasses on which prairie dogs and cattle feed....