Prairie Dogs

Daytime-active, adventurous, burrowing, colony-forming rodents

Identifying Characteristics

• Medium-sized rodent
• Short tail
• Small rounded ears
• Long, strong claws
• Short, coarse fur
• Yellowish or tan in color, with lighter underbelly and black-tipped tail
• Weigh 1.5 to 3 lb.
• 12 to 15 inches long
• Slightly flattened tail is 1 to 5 inches long, depending on the species
• Tip of their tail is black, white, or fringed with white around a gray center

North America – Inhabit much of the Great Plains and other prairies in the western part of the United States

3-5 years

Prairie Dogs live in plains, high plateaus, and montane valleys and they prefer short grass prairie habitats. They avoid environments with reduced visibility, including heavy brush and tall grass areas.

They Live In Towns

Additionally, they Live in large, social, dense colonies described as “towns” and their colonies usually cover up to 250 acres with numbers in the hundreds of millions (1 colony recorded to have contained roughly 400 million individuals. According to recent estimates, experts place total population a colony to average 10 to 20 million

• Form of alarm calls (repetitious barks and chuckles)
• Threats (snarls, growls, and tooth chatters)
• Distress calls (screaming)
• Individuals enhance group cohesion by greeting one another upon contact, using vocalizations that are specific to Rach species

• Omnivores by nature, occasionally eating insects
• Vegetation provides majority of nutritional needs, including water consumption
• Spring: Succulent herbs and grasses, leaves, and new shrub
• Summer: Seeds are primary food
• Fall and early winter: stems and roots
• During the day, foraging above ground is principal activity

No, they do not hibernate and are periodically active during winter

Mating takes place once a year, with timing closely related to latitude

Breeding season is in late winter or early spring

Litters up to 10 young

A large mound of dirt- visible at ground level

Mounds help keep burrows dry and provide an elevated spot from which Prairie Dogs can look out

• Elaborate burrow systems with many entrances
• Deep burrows, some up to 14 feet deep with only one entrance- a large mound of dirt
• Do not store food in burrows- remain in burrows for long periods of time with no food or water using physiological adaptations to control their metabolism

• Hazards for livestock, people, property, and farm machinery
• Digging unsightly burrows and tunnels
• Damage to grass, ornamental plants, and crops