PRAIRIE DOGS

MY PHOTOS

i took all of these in south dakota and nebraska.

page added 8/05/26

general facts about prairie dogs:

prairie dogs are native to the north american grasslands. they are primarily found in the plains district of the united stated but some can also be found in southern areas of canada and northern mexico. species vary between places. there are 5 species; the black tailed prarie dog (the most common), white tailed prairie dog, gunnison's prairie dog, utah prairie dog, & the mexican prairie dog.

prairie dogs are in the rodent familiy, related to squirrels, groundhogs, and ground squirrels.
theyre relativly small, all adults beeing anywhere from 14-17 in. tall and 2-4 pounds.

they are social animals, they communicate in various little yips and barks with different meanings. they also greet eachother with a little 'kiss'. pressing their front teeth against the others or booping noses.

fun facts:

they are very social, they live in large colonies underground, these colonies can often grow to be up to over 1,000,000 members. the biggest prairie dog colony ever found was in found in western-central texas, it was around 25,000 sq miles and estimated to be home to about 400 million black tailed prairie dogs! this was recorded in year 1901 by a naturalist called Vernon Bailey.

prairie dog families are called 'Coteries', which can contain up to 26 members.