Prairie Dogs
While sometimes considered a nuisance, prairie dogs are a keystone species integral to the health of the Colorado ecosystem.
About This Species
Prairie dogs are "barking" squirrels, not dogs, and are among our most "watchable" wildlife. Three species occur in Colorado: the black-tailed prairie dog; the white-tailed prairie dog and Gunnison's prairie dog. The black-tailed are the most common. Youngsters are called kits. 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 so raptors do not see them from the sky. Prairie dogs are small game species in Colorado.
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, white-tailed, and Gunnison’s prairie dog. Although there are similarities among the species, each is unique in its habitat requirements, social and conservation needs. Concern about prairie dog populations stem from apparent declines in distribution caused by multiple factors, but most notably plague which is a non-native disease spread by fleas.
In recent decades, prairie dog population declines have been caused by plague. As a result, researchers in several western states developed a plague oral vaccination program.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife began exploring and testing various plague management treatments. In order to determine the full effectiveness and effect of these treatments, researchers are looking at the impacts of these treatments on nearby bird communities.
Wildlife Health researchers surveyed colonies before and after treatment of prairie dog colonies to measure effects on prairie dog survival. Treatments included plague vaccine, placebo, insecticidal dusting for fleas (a major vector of plague), and colonies receiving no treatment.
As an extension of this project, the research section initiated a project to determine the effects of plague and plague management on bird species associated with prairie dog colonies, such as burrowing owls and mountain plovers.
Researchers are surveying birds, vegetation, and mammalian predators found in and around colonies of both black-tailed and Gunnison's prairie dogs. Researchers will compare bird densities, nest survival, predator usage, and vegetation characteristics in treated and untreated areas and in randomly-located off-colony locations.
The results from this study will inform plague management programs and produce a standardized protocol for monitoring species associated with prairie dog colonies that could be used state-wide.
- 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)
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Prairie dogs are chubby and have sharp teeth and long, sharp claws for digging burrows and for food.
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. Body length is normally from 14 to 17 in (36 to 43 cm), 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 and the lower Colorado and Gunnison valleys; and Gunnison’s prairie dog in the San Luis Valley, South Park and areas to the south and west.
Habitat
Burrows are up to seven feet deep and 16 feet long with one or more volcano-shaped entrances that shed water and catch wind for ventilation. The black-tail is the most colonial prairie dog; some towns 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 grasses and other vegetation, selecting succulent, actively growing plants. Between grazing and clipping, they may denude an area of vegetation. Often they are a symptom rather than a cause of rangeland damage, however. Overgrazing by livestock creates ideal conditions for prairie dogs, which evolved alongside migratory herds of bison, not inside barbed wire fences!
Reproduction
White-tailed and Gunnison’s prairie dogs are deep hibernators, but black-tails in Colorado simply go dormant in bitter winter weather, arousing to feed in warm spells. Prairie dogs mate in early spring and have two to ten pups after a gestation period of four to five weeks.