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Prairie Dog

The Five Species: The prairie dog is considered a ground squirrel. There are five species of prairie dog: the black-tailed prairie dog, the white-tailed prairie dog, the Gunnison's prairie dog, the Utah prairie dog and the Mexican prairie dog.

It Takes a Town: They can be found living in highly structured social organizations from Southwestern Canada to Northern Mexico. The coterie relates to the basic family unit with one male, several females and their young. Several coteries form a ward, and many wards make up a township, which average up to 160 acres. A single prairie dog town in Texas may cover 25,000 square miles and include some 400 million individuals.

A Vigorous Defense: They live in burrows in grassy habitats and vigorously defend their territories with a "jump yip" — an energetic display where prairie dogs bare their chattering teeth and fluff up their tails as a deterrent to intruders.

Prairie Pests: Unfortunately, prairie dogs also enjoy farm crops and their burrow holes tend to trip horses. Considered a pest for these reasons, extermination campaigns have been very successful in depleting prairie dog populations.

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MORE PRAIRIE DOG

VIDEO: Sounding the Alarm

PUZZLES: Prairie Dog Puzzles

SPECIES: Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

DID YOU KNOW?

Sophisticated Calls: Studies suggest that prairie dogs have a sophisticated system of vocal communication with specific calls for different types of predators.

Engineered for Escape: Prairie dogs engineer their burrows with multiple escape routes, and make sure their colonies are well-trimmed of vegetation, removing any potential cover for predators.