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 are very social animals, living together in "towns" or colonies. Colonies are typically further divided into wards, usually delineated by topographical boundaries, such as roads or trees. Wards usually range from 5 to 10 acres in size, and are separated into distinct social units called "coteries" (Choate 1997). Each coterie consists of one adult male, one to four adult females, and any offspring less than two years old (Hoogland 1995). Prairie dogs will rarely move between wards, and will defend their coteries against unfamiliar prairie dogs. However, related prairie dogs will greet each other with a type of "kiss," baring their teeth to each other in a sign of recognition (Hoogland 1995).

Prairie dogs are strictly diurnal animals (Davis and Schmidly 1994). During the summer they typically spend most of the day aboveground, feeding and interacting with other prairie dogs. They will typically spend several hours grooming each other, digging burrows, and taking turns acting as the sentry, who warns the other group members of predators. In the heat of the afternoon, many prairie dogs will retire to their burrows. In the winter, prairie dogs will remain underground for several days during bad weather, but on sunny afternoons they will emerge in search of food (Choate 1997).

Black-tailed prairie dogs produce one litter of four to five pups a year, in March or early April. Following a gestation period of thirty to thirty-five days, the litter of blind, hairless pups is born (Davis and Schmidly 1994). The pups will remain underground for about six weeks, first emerging from the den in late May or June. Immediately following their emergence, the pups are weaned and begin to feed on the available vegetation (Hoogland 1995). By the end of the summer, the pups have almost reached full size, and the young males begin to disperse, either to start their own coterie or to take over an existing one. The young females remain at their natal coterie (Garrett and Franklin 1988). The pups will become fully mature at two years of age, and begin breeding. Female prairie dogs have been found to live up to eight years, and males to six years, though few adults live past four years of age (Van Putten and Miller 1999).