Front Range Colorado Naturalist: Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs

Cynomys ludovicianus

DESCRIPTION

Black-tailed prairie dogs are rodents within the squirrel family. They are ground squirrels roughly 14-17 inches long. They can weigh from 1 to 3 pounds and have typically brown coats, but the fur color can vary from brown, gray, black or white. As their name suggests, the tips of their tails are black.

They are diurnal burrowing animals that are found in short grass plains. Unlike other prairie dogs, black-tailed prairie dogs do not hibernate.

PREDATORS

There are many things that consider the prairie dog prey. These include the rare black-footed ferret, whose diet consists almost entirely of prairie dogs and whose numbers suffered tremendously with the decline of prairie dog numbers. So much so, that they were thought to go extinct twice, and are now being slowly reintroduced back into the wild. They are North America's most endangered mammal.

Other predators include the swift fox, ferruginous hawks, eagles, badgers, and coyotes.

If a predator tries to follow a prairie dog into its burrow, the prairie dog will try to plug up the hole behind it with dirt before the predator can get through. This often traps the predator, giving the prairie dog time to escape while the predator digs itself out.

BURROWS

Prairie dogs live in extensive underground burrows with entrances easily spotted from the surface by their raised mounds of earth. The raised mound of earth at each entrance has many functions. It prevents the tunnels from flooding, it facilitates ventilation so that they get fresh air in their burrows, and they also serve as lookout posts.

They have rooms for nurseries, sleeping areas, and even a designated place for a toilet. They constantly are making new rooms and tunnels, and closing off old tunnels that they no longer use to reduce the chances of a predator (like a black-footed ferret) sneaking in.

They live in family groups called coteries in each burrow, and several burrows in an area made up of different prairie dog families makes a town. Towns can sometimes have hundreds of prairie dogs living there.

Coteries are typically made up of an adult male, one or more adult females, and their offspring.

Family members will greet each other by “kissing” where they touch their front teeth and even swap a little saliva.

REPRODUCTION

The mating season for black-tailed prairie dogs is in March. They have a gestation time of 33-38 days, and pups are typically born in April of May. A litter size is 3-4 pups on average, but can be as little as 1 or as high as 8.

Pups are born altricial; this means they are blind, weak and hairless. It takes them several weeks to develop before they can leave the burrow.

Males will leave their coterie before the first breeding season of their lives and will either travel to another coterie or to a new site in order to establish his own territory and coterie. This trip is very dangerous, and many do not survive.

If the population density in a town is too great, cannibalism is preformed on the young new pups in the spring.

COMMUNICATION

Prairie dogs have a pretty intricate way of communicating with each other, and some studies show that they have different calls for dogs versus coyotes, a different call for a predator in the sky such as a hawk, and a different call for a predator on the ground. Some studies even suggest that prairie dogs can even describe the color of a persons clothing.

They do a “jump-yip” call, and this call is believed to be an “All is well” call, or "hurray it's a beautiful day!" There may be other reasons for this call as well.

Here are a few videos on prairie dog communication:

If you only have time for one video, watch this one!

DIET

Prairie dogs are mostly herbivores, eating grasses, sedges, flowering plants, roots, seeds and sometimes they will eat insects!

RANGE

Black-tailed prairie dogs once ranged all across the Great Plains, from Southern Canada to Northern Mexico. With numbers that used to be in the hundred millions, perhaps even billions, now there are only around 10 to 20 million, a 95% reduction in abundance. They were completely eradicated in Arizona, but have been reintroduced in a small area in the state again. They can be found now in 11 U.S. states, 1 Mexican state and 1 Canadian province.

FUN FACTS

The Largest recorded black-tailed prairie dig town is in Texas, 25,000 square miles large, and might have around 400 Million prairie dogs!
There are five species of prairie dog, the black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison’s, Mexican and Utah.
Black-tailed prairie dogs are the most common
Prairie dogs help to aerate and fertilize the soil
Prairie dogs live in a very dry place, and get their water from the vegetation that they eat. A very important adaptation for living on the plains!
The scientific name for Black-tailed prairie dog, Cynomys ludovicianus means dog-mouse of Louisiana

THREATS

The biggest threat to prairie dogs are humans. They are often exterminated by farmers who see them as pests, not only for eating grass that they would rather have for their cattle, but also for their burrows being dangerous places where the farmers horses or cattle might trip and break their legs. There are no known cases of this ever happening however.

Because of this dislike, prairie dogs are poisoned, or shot by farmers. In some places they are even killed for sport. Some cities will cull prairie dog colonies if they become too large or start to expand into unwelcome areas.

SYLVATIC PLAGUE

Prairie dogs have no known immunity to this plague, which entered North America in 1900. It can eliminate all or nearly all prairie dogs in an area within days.

If you live near a prairie dog colony and you notice a sudden decline in prairie dog numbers, it is best to inform someone immediately. Possible people to inform might be Animal Control or the city that you live in. Dusting of a prairie dog colony can kill the fleas and stop the spread of the plague.

A rabbit has taken over a prairie dog hole

BENEFITS OF PRAIRIE DOGS

As key stone species, this means that many species rely on prairie dogs for their own survival. Many kinds of insects, birds, reptiles and mammals will use their tunnels for nests or homes. This includes the burrowing owl, rattlesnakes, hares, and even the prairie dogs top predator, the black-footed ferret.

Along with the many species that benefit from prairie dogs as food, prairie dogs also support plant life and diversity by fertilizing the ground and aerating the soil.

While prairie dog numbers are in decline, there may be ways to help. By educating people about the importance of prairie dogs and their important role in the prairie ecosystem, or by even working with the city and finding out more about its prairie dog management. In some places it has been found that simply having barriers of tall grass that prairie dogs do not like to go through can stop prairie dog colonies from spreading into places where they are unwanted.

Many ranchers do not realize that prairie dogs only consume 4 to 8 percent of the grass in an area, and they actually increase the productivity and diversity of grasses in a grazed area.

Black-tailed prairie dogs are not currently on the endangered species list, and this is something that should be changed. They were removed from the candidate list as an endangered species in 2004, possibly because of political pressure to poison prairie dogs for agricultural reasons.