Black-tailed prairie dog

The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) is a rodent of the squirrel family, not a dog. It is named for its bark-like alarm calls and for the black tip on its tail. It is tan with a lighter belly, about 36 to 43 centimetres long, and weighs around 0.7 to 1.4 kilograms.

It lives in the Great Plains of North America, from about the border with Canada to the border with Mexico. Prairie dogs live in huge burrow towns, where a sentry often stands guard and barks when danger comes near. Researchers found that the calls can differ depending on the kind of predator.

Towns under the grass

Prairie dogs are active by day. They dig long burrows with strong claws and live together in colonies called towns. One town in Texas was reported to cover about 64,000 square kilometres and to hold 400 million animals. Today they live across most of their old range, but the area they occupy is far below historic levels. They do not truly hibernate, and in winter they sleep deeply at night but still come out to feed.

Dangers and neighbours

Predators include pumas, coyotes, wolves, badgers and the black-footed ferret. In winter they lose about a fifth of their body weight when they go into short periods of torpor. The Lewis and Clark Expedition described this species in its journals as one of the two prairie dog species it described. Their food is mostly plants such as grasses.

On the globe

The model shows black-tailed prairie dogs on the Great Plains in Kansas. Look for the animal standing upright as a lookout.