I sat still beneath the shade of a large bush, scanning the area close by for any sign of easy prey. I’ve been out here for hours, but there’s nothing I can catch! I’m starving… Ugh, what I wouldn’t do for a good, filling meal… My tail drooped as my stomach let out a hungry rumble.

Just then, a movement under a nearby tree caught my eye. I turned and spotted a young prairie dog sniffing around the dusty roots of the tree. My ears perked up. Well, there’s no way one prairie dog will be enough to fill my belly, but I could use a snack…

I crouched low, my belly scraping the dry earth as I quietly crept forward. When the prairie dog turned its head, I darted out from under the bush and shot toward the defenseless creature.

Gotcha! I pounced on the prairie dog and pinned it down between my front paws before I stretched my mouth over my wriggling prey. Before it had time to react, I pushed the rodent into my mouth and held it behind my teeth. Then, I tilted my head up and swallowed my snack whole and alive.

“Ohh yeah, that’s better…” I groaned, licking my lips as the prairie dog squirmed inside my belly. I leaned down on my forepaws and stretched, shaking dust from my mane. “Maybe I’ll see another snack scurrying around if I wait in the bush some more.”

When I turned to walk back into my hiding spot, there was another prairie dog sitting in the dirt.

He stood on his hind legs and angrily shook his paws at me. “You swallowed my sister, you big meanie!” He squeaked.

“Brother!!” Inside my belly, the prairie dog screeched and beat her paws against the lining of my stomach, earning a growl of pleasure from me. “Brother, help!”

“Sis!”

Ah, it must be my lucky day. I chuckled as I licked my lips. “Why don’t you go in and save her?~” I bent down and held my mouth open wide. To my surprise, the prairie dog willingly marched straight into my maw and was promptly swallowed whole like his sibling.

I felt better with two prairie dogs thrashing around inside my belly, but I was nowhere near full yet. “Squirm all you want, kids, it only makes it more enjoyable for me~” I purred.

“Hey, you!”

I spun around and spotted an adult male prairie dog emerging from a hole in the ground near the tree. He trotted up to me, looking furious.

“Let me see my pups, right now!” He demanded.

“Sure, go ahead and get them.” I held my mouth open and watched the father dive inside my maw without hesitation. As I pulled the rodent into my gullet and swallowed him down, another adult bounded up to me.

“Lemme guess, you’re the mom?” I asked.

“Yes! I must save my family!” She cried.

“Hop in!”

-

“Whew, now that’s more like it.” I hummed. Four prairie dogs wriggling around in my tummy were better than one, but I still had room for more. Outside of the shade, the afternoon sun was bearing down on my back and making me pant. I should go get a drink. Maybe that’ll fill me up some more. I thought.

When I turned to head toward a nearby stream, I found an older prairie dog blocking the way. “My daughter! Where is she? Her pups are both missing, too!” She cried.

I smirked. “She’s in here, with her mate and pups.” I stretched my jaws open wide and was pointing to the back of my throat when I got another mouthful of prairie dog and swallowed her down on impulse.

“Not my wife!” An elderly male exclaimed as he hobbled up to me, gesturing wildly at the bulge traveling down my throat.

“Come on in,” I held my mouth open and swallowed the next prairie dog, who was soon followed by three more rodents trying to save their own family members from me, the hungry predator. I felt my tummy grow larger and heavier with every gulp.

“Ohhh yeah, keep squirming in there, guys. Feels so good.” I moaned, staggering slightly under the weight of my rodent-filled belly. “Now this is what I call a meal. My belly’s nice and full now!” I chuckled to myself. I was just looking for a spot in the shade to lay down when yet another prairie dog emerged from a hole in the ground in front of me.

“Have you seen my aunt?”

I glanced down at the chubby rodent and blinked slowly. “Yeah, I’ve seen her.”

“Where is she?”

“Take a guess.” I lifted a paw and looked down at my bulging, wiggling belly hanging beneath me.

The prairie dog glanced up at my slightly swollen stomach and let out a terrified squeak. “Then it’s up to me to save them!”

“I’m so full...but one more can’t hurt.” I closed my mouth over the prairie dog and swallowed him down as well, a bit roughly this time.

“How dare you swallow my son, you beast!”

I groaned. Another prairie dog had surfaced between my paws. “You’re just going to have to wait, I couldn’t possibly eat another - hngk?!” I grunted in surprise when the rodent forced her way into my mouth and down my throat.

When she reached my stomach and added to the already hefty weight of squirming prey, I groaned and swayed on my paws. “Uhhnnn...this...takes care of lunch and dinner.” I plopped down on my hind legs and let out a burp. I glanced down at my tummy and found it stretched and bulging with rodents.

“Cousin! Where are you?!”

“Oh no-” I tried to get up and back away from the newcomer, but he was faster. He scaled my arm and forced his way inside my maw. As the prairie dog squirmed his way into my belly, I groaned and rubbed at my full stomach with my paw. Eleven prairie dogs was a meal, but twelve was going a bit past my limit.

“I’ll save you, uncle!”

“Go away!” I made to run for it, but my body had become too heavy and full of rodents to resist another. I stumbled forward a bit before collapsing on my front, watching helplessly as the newest prairie dog forced my jaws open and crawled inside.

“Daddy, no!!! You big mean lion!”

I moaned and rolled my eyes. “Sorry but this lion is full-”

“Sister!”

“N-no, please, no more-”

“Grandpa!”

“Where do you all keep coming from?!”

“My niece!”

“What part of ‘I’m full’ do you not understand?! My poor stomach can’t hold any more of you!”

“I’ll save you guys!”

“Noooo!”

-

“Hnnnn...oohhh…” Panting heavily with my tongue sticking out, I rolled over onto my back and gazed down at my heavily swollen stomach. My tummy felt bloated and even a bit painful with countless paws still beating against my sensitive insides. “I must’ve - hic! - eaten the entire colony…”

“You’ll never go after my clan again, will you?” One of the many prairie dogs asked.

“Don’t tell me you...planned this?” I breathed.

“Of course we did. It’s our plan for whenever some predator gobbles up a clan mate.” Said another voice.

“After I let you all out, I don’t think I’m ever eating another - hic! - prairie dog again!”