Black-tailed Prairie Dog

Range and Distribution

Habitat

Life History and Reproduction

Prairie dogs and humans

Status

Literature Cited

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Black-tailed prairie dogs prefer to colonize short and mid-grass prairies that have been heavily grazed by livestock (Knowles 1986). Prairie dogs systematically clip vegetation in towns to increase their visibility, often giving areas colonized by prairie dogs a barren look. Prairie dog towns are marked by the presence of mounds marking the entrance to burrows. These mounds provide vantage points for the prairie dogs as well as serve as a method of flood protection (National Wildlife Federation 1999). The burrow systems built by prairie dogs are quite complex, and typically include several chambers, which are used as nesting areas, nurseries, latrine sites, and a "listening post" near the surface to detect predators and other dangers (Hoogland 1995). The burrows are typically five to ten feet deep, and fifteen feet long, although burrows over a hundred feet have been reported (Davis and Schmidly 1994).

Prairie dogs are vital to the prairie ecosystem, and share their habitat with several other species. Some species such as the ferruginous hawk, coyote, swift fox, and badger prey on prairie dogs (Campbell and Clark 1981). Burrows provide shelter for other species, particularly small mammals, burrowing owls and rattlesnakes, while many bird species, such as the mountain plover and meadowlark, feed on the seeds and insects found in prairie dog towns (Knowles 1986). Historically, bison and pronghorn antelope grazed on prairie dog towns, preferring these areas to uncolonized sites (Copprock et al. 1983).

Prairie dog habitat has been reduced to less than one percent of its historic size due to systematic eradication efforts on behalf of the agricultural industry (Miller and Ceballos 1994). Prairie dogs have long been considered agricultural pests that compete with livestock for forage and destroy crops. As a result, federal and state programs have aided the removal of prairie dogs from both public and private lands throughout much of the Great Plains (Davis and Schmidly 1994). Several recent studies, however, have shown that the level of competition between prairie dogs and cattle is minimal, and cattle grazed on prairie dog towns grow at the same rate as cattle grazed on non-colonized areas (Hansen and Gold 1977; O’Melia et al. 1982). In fact, cattle have been shown to preferentially graze on prairie dog towns (Knowles 1986). While prairie dogs do remove a significant amount of the forage available, they have been found to increase vegetative diversity and the amount of crude protein available to grazers (Whicker and Detling 1988).