Prairie Dogs
Prairie dogs are a keystone species integral to the health of ecosystems across Colorado and beyond.
About This Species
Prairie dogs are not dogs but burrowing ground squirrels, and are among our most "watchable" wildlife. Youngsters are called pups and a family group is called a coterie. Prairie dogs are tan or light brown (the color of sand or dirt), to blend in with their habitat.
Living with Prairie Dogs
Prairie dogs living in colonies - called towns - that can occur in agricultural, rural, suburban, and even urban areas. CPW offers tips on how to live in harmony with prairie dogs and how we manage this important species.
Research
Researching Prairie Dogs
Colorado is home to three prairie dog species: the black-tailed prairie dog, the white-tailed prairie dog and Gunnison’s prairie dog. Prairie dogs live in groups and communicate with complex sounds. Although there are similarities among the species, each is unique in its habitat requirements and conservation needs. Prairie dog populations have declined in recent years for multiple reasons, but mainly due to plague, a non-native disease transmitted by fleas.
In recent decades, prairie dog population declines have been caused by plague, a fatal bacterial disease. As a result, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s Wildlife Health Program researches, develops and evaluates plague management tools and products. Researchers in Colorado and several other western states have helped develop an oral vaccine and a vaccination program.
As part of this research, CPW wildlife health researchers tested the impact of this vaccine on prairie dog survival. They compared survival in colonies that had received the vaccine, colonies that had received insecticidal treatment for fleas (a major transmitter of plague), and colonies that received no treatment. This research demonstrated that both insecticides and vaccine can prevent plague-induced colony collapse and help prairie dog populations recover more quickly after plague outbreaks.
CPW avian researchers study the effects of plague and plague management on bird species associated with prairie dog colonies. These include burrowing owls, golden eagles, ferruginous hawks, thick-billed longspurs and mountain plovers. These birds are not susceptible to plague but can be impacted by plague outbreaks in prairie dogs. Prairie dogs provide a food source for hawks and eagles and create habitat for burrowing owls, longspurs and plovers. When prairie dogs decline, so can these birds. Avian researchers have surveyed birds, other predators and vegetation in and near colonies of black-tailed and Gunnison’s prairie dogs. These surveys compare data from areas treated with oral vaccines, areas treated with insecticides, and untreated areas. This research can help avian scientists learn more about protecting the habitats that prairie dogs create for birds.
Publications
Progress Reports
- Prairie dog towns increase grassland bird diversity at the landscape scale
- Potential Effects of Environmental Conditions on Prairie Dog Flea Development and Implications for Sylvatic Plague Epizootics
- Efficient parameter extraction of photovoltaic models with a novel enhanced prairie dog optimization algorithm
- Overwintering Raptor Abundance and Community Composition in Relation to Prairie Dog Colonies in the Southern and Central Great Plains
- A low‐pressure compressed air insecticide applicator to manage plague on prairie dog colonies using all‐terrain vehicles
- Treatment with the immunocontraceptive vaccine, GonaCon, induces temporary fertility control in free-ranging prairie dog populations in Colorado
- Vigilance Patterns of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) in Urban and Rural Areas
- Resource availability influences global social network properties in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni)
- Snake herders: novel anti-predator behavior by black-tailed prairie dogs in response to prairie rattlesnakes
- Do black‐tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies attract foraging bats?
- Abundance estimates of Gunnison's prairie dogs compared to the number of active burrows
- Impacts of environmental conditions on fleas in black‐tailed prairie dog burrows
- Plague in Gunnison's prairie dogs
- A Comparison of Two Methods to Monitor Translocated Prairie Dogs
- Presence of both Active and Inactive Colonies of Prairie Dogs Contributes to Higher Vegetation Heterogeneity at the Landscape Scale
- Alarm calls of the same individual vary during a response to the same predator in Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni)
- Factors Influencing Uptake of Sylvatic Plague Vaccine Baits by Prairie Dogs
- Post‐translocation dynamics of black‐tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus): A successful conservation and human–wildlife conflict mitigation tool
Conservation
Conservation Plan - Gunnison's Prairie Dog
Seglund et al. (2005) WAFWA's Gunnison's Prairie Dog Multi-State Conservation Assessment
Conservation Plan - White-Tailed Prairie Dog
Seglund et al. (2006) WAFWA's White-tailed Prairie Dog Multi-State Conservation Assessment
Conservation Plan - Gunnison's and White-tailed Prairie Dog
Conservation Plan - Multi Species
Neely et al. (2001)
Colorado Black-tailed Prairie Dog Range-wide Monitoring
Conservation Plan for Grassland Species in Colorado
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Prairie dogs are chubby with sharp teeth and long, sharp claws for digging burrows and digging up food. They are often seen “standing” on their hind legs near their burrows.
Black-tailed Prairie Dog
Black-tailed prairie dogs are generally tan in color, with lighter-colored bellies. They may have color variation in their pelt, such as dark fur on their back in black and brown tones. Their tails have black tips, from which their name is derived. Adults can weigh from 1.5 to 3.0 lb (0.68 to 1.36 kg), males are typically heavier than females. They are normally 14 to 17 in (36 to 43 cm) in body length, with a 3- to 4-inch (7.6 to 10.2 cm) tail.
White-tailed Prairie Dog
The white-tailed prairie dog is tan-brown in color, with large eyes and a dark patch on their cheeks above and below each eye. They have white tips on their tails, which is how they got their name. They weigh between 1.75 lb to 3.5 lb (0.79 to 1.5 kg), while having a length between 12 to 16 in (30 to 41 cm), with a 3 to 4 inch (7.6 to 10.2 cm) tail.
Gunnison's Prairie Dog
Their coats are yellow-toned buff merged with black-colored hairs. The upper head, sides of the cheek, and eyebrows are distinctly darker than the rest of the body. Their tails are mostly white with grayish-white ends and the tips are light gray. Their length is 12 to 14 inches (30 to 36 cm) with tails that measure 1.25 to 2.25 inches (3.2 to 5.7 cm). This species weighs from 1.5 to 2.5 lb (0.68 to 1.13 kg).
Range
The black-tailed prairie dog occurs on the grasslands of the eastern plains; the white-tailed prairie dog in shrub-lands of North Park, the Wyoming Basin, Grand and Uncompahgre valleys; and Gunnison’s prairie dog in the San Luis Valley, Gunnison Valley, South Park and areas to the south and west.
Habitat
Burrows are up to 7 feet deep and 16 feet long with one or more volcano-shaped entrances that shed water and catch wind for ventilation. The black-tailed prairie dog is the most colonial prairie dog; some colonies cover several hundred acres. In addition to noisy territorial barking, they make alarms and "all-clear" calls, and "kissing" seems to help them recognize each other. Vegetation around the burrow is clipped, apparently to allow better visibility of potential predators.
Diet
Prairie dogs eat grass and other vegetation, selecting succulent, actively growing plants. Between grazing and clipping, they may strip an area clean of vegetation. Often, they are a symptom rather than a cause of rangeland damage, however. Overgrazing can create ideal conditions for prairie dogs, which evolved alongside migratory herds of bison.
Reproduction
White-tailed and Gunnison’s prairie dogs hibernate, but black-tailed prairie dogs in Colorado are active year-round. Prairie dogs mate once annually in early spring and have two to eight pups after a gestation period of four to five weeks.