Cute Little Vermin
They may be pests in some places, and the prairie dog towns stretching for miles in every direction have just about disappeared from the west, but these furry little critters still entertain and enchant us. Prairie Dogs are part of our heritage in the western U.S. and are sadly disappearing due to loss of habitat.
Burrows on the Plains
Prairie dogs once inhabited the Great Plains from southern Saskatchewan to northern Mexico. The original French and Spanish explorers called them "little dogs" because their calls sound like barking dogs, but they are rodents. They are members of the squirrel family, closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks and marmots.There are five different species of prairie dogs, each very similar to another.
Named for their bark-like warning call and black-tipped tail, prairie dogs average 14 to 17 inches in total length and weigh 1 to 3 pounds.
A prairie dog colony or "town" consists of a large number of closely spaced burrows, each comprising an elaborate network of interconnecting tunnels and multiple entrance holes. The primary prairie dog social unit is the "coterie," an acre or so of territory with 50 to 60 burrow entrances that is occupied by a single family group. A coterie typically consists of one adult male, several adult females, and their offspring.
Prairie dogs mainly eat flowering plants and grasses.
Prairie dogs build up large stores of body fat to carry them through the fall and winter months. The Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs of Wyoming are the only species which do not hibernate.
danger has passed.
National Zoo Prairie Dogs...
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Let These Cute Little Ones Entertain You
A Close View of a Fat Black-Tailed Pr...
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DON'T FEED THE PRAIRIE DOGS
Prairie Dogs' digestive systems are not designed to handle human food. Prairie dogs are wild animals will bite if they feel threatened a painful. They can also carry fleas that can transmit bubonic plague to humans.
Home Sweet Home
Abandoned Prairie Dog holes are popular turn-key nests for Burrowing Owls. The owls seek out empty mounds in the spring and move right in! Unfortunately, as the vast colonies of prairie dogs decline, so does the Burrowing Owl population. Learn More About Burrowing Owls
Read ElizabethJeanAllen's Beautiful Lens
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Burrowing Owl
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The Burrowing Owls are aptly named. They live underground in burrows. Rather than dig their own, they let the ground squirrels and prairie dogs do the work, and then evict them.
Build A Prairie Dog Library
![Conservation of prairie dog ecosystem engineering may support arthropod beta and gamma diversity [An article from: Journal of Arid Environments]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51AS332DPEL._SL75_.jpg)
Prairie Dogs Kissing by Laurie Ryan
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The Internet - Your Virtual Prairie Dog Town
- Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility
- Do Prairie Dogs cause groundwater pollution?
- Devil's Tower National Monument
- The Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs of Devil's Tower.
- Prairie Dog Park
- Prairie Dog State Park in Kansas.
Prairie Dog Snacking
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Prairie Dogs on Flickr
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Prairie Dog
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Black-tailed Prairie...
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Bad Neighbors
Prairie Dog colonies are popular neighborhoods for Rattlesnakes to live in. They provide ready-made dens and an ample food source. 
WikiDogs!!
The prairie dogs (Cynomys) are small, burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of squirrel. On average, these stout-bodied rodents will grow to be between 12 and 16 inches (30 and 40 cm) long, including the short tail and weigh between 1-3 pounds. They are found in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In Mexico, prairie dogs are primarily found in the northern states which are the southern end of the great plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas; in the U.S., they range primarily west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales.
The Best Gifts For Prairie Dog Lovers.
Wonderful Books For Kids!
What Do You Think Of Prairie Dogs?
A Black-Tailed Prairie Do...
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triathlontraining
I think Prairie Dogs are fun to watch. They're one of my favorite animals at our local zoo, to me. Posted August 08, 2008 |
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mulberry
Nice I like them even more than Meerkats. Errrr rattlesnakes ...I think that's what killed Flower on Meerkat Manor! Posted August 07, 2008 |
Totally cute.
Posted July 30, 2008
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RinchenChodron
This is a great lens **** I love the black tailed ones. Sooo cute. Posted June 29, 2008 |
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