Prairie dog is oblivious to two birds trying to mug him for his meal Life can be tough on the prairie - which is probably why this prairie dog was totally unfazed by two noisy birds trying to steal his lunch. The nonchalant mammal ignored the insistent attention for more than a quarter of an hour, simply carrying on enjoying his food. The attempted mugging carried on for so long - with the birds shrieking and pestering the laid-back animal in a bid to chase him off - that it drew a crowd of intrigued human onlookers as St Louis Zoo. Give us a bite! Two birds eye up the food being eaten by a prairie dog at St Louis Zoo in Missouri. The birds' insistence, and the rodent's nonchalance, amused visitors for more than quarter of an hour At one point one of the birds even clambered on to the rodent and attempted to take the food with its beak. During another assault, a bird tried to peck the food out of the prairie dog's mouth. Prairie dogs are members of the squirrel family - clearly a more chilled-out relative when it comes to meal times. The amusing scenes were captured by Randy Corbet at the Missouri zoo. The 65-year-old, who is a St Louis resident, said: 'Of the photos I've taken at zoos, these are some of my most unique. What made them good pictures was that the animals were acting in an really unusual and interesting manner. Oh come on! At one point, one of the birds tried to take food out of the prairie dog's mouth after having climbed up on his belly. Despite the bird's outrageous behaviour, he looked unperturbed by the attack Just a little morsel: Despite the squawking and shrieking from his attackers, the prairie dog barely blinked an eye while being harassed. Zoo visitor Randy Corbet, 65, captured the strange interaction - and lack thereof What attracted my attention was that the prairie dog seemed so unconcerned by the bird. 'Even when one bird clamped onto his side to try to reach the food he didn't blink an eye. I didn't see the birds actually succeed in getting any food from the prairie dog. But, as they are wild birds, they had no fear of the prairie dogs and would look for food wherever they could find it. There were several people observing the event - the prairie dogs are quite popular with the children who visit and always are put on a good show. Pleeease! One of the birds makes it more than clear that the prairie dog should be sharing the food - but he keeps his eye resolutely ahead. The birds finally gave up - but only after a hilarious stand-off Prairie dogs are herbivorous burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. They get their common name from their habitat and the dog-like barking noises they make when warning each other of predators. The term prairie dog was used as early as 1778. The name has even made its way into American 'office speak' - terms used in large companies to describe office life or employee behaviour. 'Prairie dogging' refers to the action of several people simultaneously looking over the walls of their office cubicles, in response to a noise or other distraction.