Prairie Dog

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A close cousin of the ground squirrel, the Prairie Dog is a heavy-bodied rodent with a black-tipped tail. Prairie dogs have large eyes, short tails and a brownish-tan pelage. Prairie dogs are very social animals. They live as a group in prairie dog "towns" which range from one to over 1,000 acres. These towns are subdivided into wards that are arranged like counties within a state. Wards are further subdivided into distinct social units called coteries. A coterie usually consists of a single adult male, one to four adult females, and any offspring under two years of age. Prairie dogs are strictly diurnal animals. They are most active during the cool hours of the day, when they engage in social activities such as visiting and grooming each other as well as feeding on grasses and herbs. When prairie dogs are out, to see a sentry who perches on the volcano-like ring that surrounds the burrow. Should a predator or any other danger become evident, the sentry will bark out a warning after which the community will dive into their burrows and wait for the "all clear" call before venturing out again.

Female prairie dogs produce only one litter of approximately four to five young per year in March or April. The pups are born blind and hairless after a gestation period of 34 to 35 days. They do not make an appearance outside the burrow until they are about six weeks of age. Not long after, the family gradually will disperse. The young males of the family usually move away before their first breeding season while the females may spend their entire lives in their original coterie. Female prairie dogs may live up to eight years of age while male prairie dogs usually live to be no more than five years of age. Prairie dogs are native to short-grass prairie habitats of western North America. They serve as a food source for many predators and birds of prey.