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A tan black-tailed prairie dog sitting on the ground.
Photo: Christian Ursilva, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

Cynomys ludovicianus

A burrowing ground squirrel of the Great Plains that lives in huge "towns" and barks to warn of danger.

🐭 Rodents
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About the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog

Black-tailed prairie dogs live on the open plains of the Great Plains, from Montana and southern Saskatchewan to northern Mexico. They stand about 12 inches tall and weigh 1 to 3 pounds. They're named for their most common call, a short yip that sounds like a bark. Grasses make up about three-quarters of their diet, plus roots and flowers.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Cynomys ludovicianus[1]
Size
About 12 inches tall.[1]
Weight
1 to 3 pounds.[1]
Lifespan
3 to 5 years in the wild. Up to 8 in human care.[1]
Diet
Herbivore. Mostly grasses, plus roots and blossoms.[1]
Habitat
Open plains and plateaus.[1]
Where it lives
The Great Plains, from Montana and southern Saskatchewan to far northern Mexico.[1]
Group life
Large colonies called towns.[1]
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2016).[2]

Fun facts

  • Prairie dogs are a kind of squirrel, not a dog.[1]
  • One prairie dog town was about 250 miles long and home to about 400 million prairie dogs.[1]
  • More than 165 kinds of animals depend on prairie dogs.[1]
  • A prairie dog colony can have 30 to 50 burrow entrances per acre.[1]

Vocabulary

keystone species
A species that many other living things in its ecosystem depend on.
burrow
A hole or tunnel dug in the ground by an animal.
colony
A large group of animals of one kind that live together.
rodent
A mammal with front teeth that keep growing, such as squirrels and mice.
plateau
A large, flat area of high ground.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Black-tailed Prairie Dog.” https://www.sfzoo.org/black-tailed-prairie-dog/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Cynomys ludovicianus (Black-tailed Prairie Dog).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6091/115080297 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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