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The little animals found in the plains of the Missouri which I have called the barking squirrel . . . generally associate in large societies placing their

A Prairie [Dog] Home Companion 2008
A New Look at an Old Dog Three Dog Night The Prairie Dog Ecosystem Little Town Under the Prairie DOW Working to Protect Grassland Species Educator's Guide

burrows near each other and frequently occupy in this manner several hundred acres of land . . . They will generally set and bark at you as you approach them, their note being much that of the little toy dogs, their yelps are in quick succession and at each they give a motion to their tail upwards.

Meriwether Lewis, July1,1806

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When Lewis and Clark explored the American West, they encountered many animals previously unknown to science. Among these was what Lewis called a “barking squirrel,” the creature we know as the black-tailed prairie dog.

Prairie dogs are ground squirrels, cousins to chipmunks and marmots. They are well-adapted for life on the ground, and under it, with wide paws and sharp claws for digging into the prairie soil. Short, powerful legs allow them to scuttle down and along the tight confines of their burrows. Their eyes are set near the top of the skull, to aid in spotting predators that might come from the sky as well as the ground. This also allows them to hunker within the cover of their burrow entrance and still have a view of the world around. Prairie dogs feed on the leaves, flowers, seeds, shoots and roots of grasses and soft, flowering plants. Most of their day is spent foraging and feeding. Like an army of range managers, their grazing changes and controls the growth of the plants within their community. Because a clear line of sight is so important, prairie dogs also clip any tall vegetation within their town. Keeping the grass clipped like a putting green encourages the growth of other plants, thereby increasing the diversity of plant species. The clipped vegetation also grows more vigorously when cut back. Studies have found that vegetation growing within a prairie dog town is higher in protein and nitrogen and favored for grazing by bison, pronghorn and elk.

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A prairie dog town may look like a collection of critters milling around munching on grass but it’s actually a highly-organized and sophisticated community. Each family group, known as a coterie, consists of a male, several females, and their young. The coteries occupy a burrow, and a collection of burrows makes up the prairie dog colony. The coterie members share food, play, groom each other, work together to dig and maintain burrows and have a sophisticated system of vocal communication, with different calls for danger, pleasure, anger and “all-clear.”

Living in a large group offers prairie dogs greater protection from predators. As most of the animals feed, sentinels keep watch for danger, sitting upright atop their burrows scanning the world around. If the sentinels see a coyote, hawk or even a two-legged human visitor, they alert the group with a series of alarm chirps or barks. The call is taken up by the community, as up to half of the animals also begin barking. When the danger is gone, the sentries give an “all clear” call, tossing back their heads in what’s called a “jump-yip.”

Researcher John Hoogland of the University of Maryland has identified different alarm barks for different types of predators. The bark for four-legged creatures like coyotes differs from the bark for danger from the sky, like a hawk or owl. Because they rely upon vision for protection, prairie dogs retreat into their burrows in the evening when the light begins to fade. Their eyes have cones (the cells that function in bright light) but lack rods (the cells needed to see in low light) so they are nearly blind in dim light. Prairie dogs often stay below ground on cloudy days when the diffused light and lack of shadows makes spotting predators more difficult.

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Visitors passing a busy prairie dog town might think there are plenty of prairie dogs out there. But the days of vast prairie dog communities are gone. Because prairie dogs occupy land that is desirable for farming and ranching, millions of acres of prairie dog colonies have been eliminated through intensive poisoning campaigns over the last 100 years. Today, prairie dogs occupy only an estimated 2–5 percent of their original range, much of this in small, fragmented colonies. Sylvatic plague, a non-native disease to which the animals have no resistance, frequently wipes out up to 100 percent of the animals in a colony. Human development further threatens prairie dog colonies. The decline of prairie dogs has affected many animals that depend on them to one degree or another.

Next: Three Dog Night

(The information contained in this issue of Colorado's Wildlife Company was accurate at the time of original publication. Situations and circumstances described, staff positions, contact information, and dates of some events may have changed in the interim. Present knowledge and understanding of biological and behavioral facts and information may also be different, now, than presented here.)