Active and extremely social, black-tailed prairie dogs live in complex communities. They are an important part of the prairie ecosystem. They help keep the soil healthy by loosening it with their digging. They provide a source of food for other animals, including eagles, ferrets, and coyotes.

What They Eat
Prairie dogs eat mainly grasses and other plants, but will also consume seeds and insects.

Where They Live
Prairie dogs live in and around “towns” of tunnels they carve 3–10 feet beneath the surface of prairies and semi-deserts of the western United States, Canada, and northern Mexico.

What They Do
Prairie dogs are adapted to live in dry, resource-scarce conditions. Their tunnels help protect them from predators and from the hot sun. Their sandy color camouflages them against the light-colored ground. They are able to survive for long periods on water they obtain from the food they eat.

How They’re Doing
Prairie dog populations have declined due to disease, habitat loss and fragmentation, poisoning, and shooting.

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Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

• Young prairie dogs are called kits.
• In the past, prairie dogs were killed in large numbers because ranchers thought they were destroying rangeland and competing for food with cattle, or were worried their cattle might break a leg by stepping in a prairie dog hole.
• Black-tailed prairie dogs are unusual among the five species of prairie dogs in that they don’t hibernate.

Loss of prairie habitat to agriculture and other human activity has helped produce a drastic decline in the number of prairie dogs. The decline in prairie dogs in turn has had a devastating effect on the North American black-footed ferret, which lives in prairie dog burrows and preys almost entirely on these animals. The black-footed ferret has become North America’s most endangered mammal.

Range and Habitat
As their name suggests, prairie dogs live in prairies. They also are found in semi-desert areas of southern Canada, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and south into Oklahoma and Texas.

Description
A medium-sized rodent, the black-tailed prairie dog is just over a foot long, with a 4-inch tail. It has a yellowish back, creamy belly, and black-edged tail.

Habits and Adaptations
Black-tailed prairie dogs are very social animals. They live in family groups called coteries and have a complex communication system that includes touching mouths to recognize family members.  They dig elaborate burrows. They are extremely gregarious and spend hours grooming each other and playing.

Eat and Be Eaten
Primarily herbivores, prairie dogs eat short grasses, broadleaf plants, and occasionally seeds and insects. They will also eat cactus and the roots of grasses. Coyotes, black-footed ferrets, golden eagles, and bobcats are among the animals that eat prairie dogs.

Life History
Prairie dogs breed in February and March. After a gestation of 30 days, as many as 10 (but usually 3–5) young are born blind and hairless. The young open their eyes at about 5 weeks and emerge from the burrow at around 6 weeks. They normally stay with the family unit until 2 years of age, when they begin to wander off and form their own coteries. Prairie dogs live an average of 5 years in the wild and about 8½ years in zoos.