Prairie dog is a burrowing rodent that lives in western North America. It belongs to the squirrel family. The animal gets its name from the prairies (grassy plains) where it lives, and from its warning call, which sounds like a domestic dog’s bark.
Prairie dogs have short legs; long, sharp claws; small eyes at the top of the head; and a short tail. Their thick fur is light brown. Adults measure from 9 to 15 inches (23 to 38 centimeters) in length, including the tail, and weigh from 1 to 3 pounds (0.5 to 1.4 kilograms).
There are five species (kinds) of prairie dogs. The Black-tailed prairie dog, the most common kind, inhabits the Great Plains from southern Canada to northern Mexico.
Habits.
Prairie dogs live in burrows. They come out of their burrows only in the daytime to eat. Their diet consists mostly of plants, especially grasses. Occasionally, they eat grasshoppers and other insects.
Prairie dogs are social animals. They live in large groups called colonies or towns that may contain more than 500 residents. Each colony of black-tailed prairie dogs contains many family groups called coteries. A typical coterie consists of one adult male, three or four adult females, and several offspring. Coterie members defend their territory by fighting or chasing off trespassing prairie dogs from other groups. A territory usually has 25 to 50 burrows, some as deep as 16 feet (5 meters). Most burrows have at least two entrances surrounded by mounds. The mounds protect burrows from flooding, improve underground ventilation, and provide prairie dogs with perches to watch for predators.
Loading the player...Black-tailed prairie dog
The enemies of prairie dogs include American badgers, bobcats, coyotes, red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, and prairie falcons. When a prairie dog sees a predator, it commonly gives a loud alarm. Other prairie dogs then run to their burrow mounds to watch the predator. They go underground only if the predator approaches within 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 meters).
Black-tailed prairie dogs mate in the winter. The female carries her young for about 34 days and then gives birth to one to six blind, hairless babies. The young stay underground for about six weeks before they emerge from their burrows. Males leave the original coterie when they are about 12 months old, and each attempts to take over a coterie from an older male. Most females remain in the original coterie for life. About half of all prairie dogs die before they are one year old. Males that survive the first year sometimes live five years, and females eight.
Prairie dogs and people.
Over time, ranchers and other people have reduced prairie dog numbers by killing them and destroying their habitats. Moreover, the infectious disease called plague, which was brought to North America by people, has devastated prairie dog populations. As a result, all five prairie dog species are threatened with extinction. Ranchers traditionally feared their livestock would step into prairie dog burrows and suffer leg injuries. They also believed prairie dogs ate grasses and other plants preferred by cattle. Yet horses and cows rarely step into burrows, and prairie dogs generally eat different plants than livestock eat. Moreover, prairie dog activities improve the quality of certain plants. For example, the animals expose subsoil when they dig, making the land more fertile. Thus livestock commonly prefer to feed within prairie dog colonies. More research is needed to better understand the relationship between prairie dogs and livestock.
See also Gopher ; Ground squirrel ; Rodent ; Squirrel .
