What is the diet of a prairie dog?

Learn about the size, diet, population, range, behavior and other fascinating facts about black-tailed prairie dogs. read more

Learn about the size, diet, population, range, behavior and other fascinating facts about black-tailed prairie dogs. Of the five species of prairie dogs in western North America, only the black-tailed prairie dog lives in the Great Plains. read more

Highly social, prairie dogs live in large colonies or"towns", and collections of prairie dog families that can span hundreds of acres. The prairie dog family groups are the most basic units of its society. Members of a family group inhabit the same territory. read more

Unlike its name, the Black-tailed Prairie Dog is actually a rodent species and is one of the five prairie dog species of America. They are known by many names like Arizona black-tailed prairie dog, barking ground squirrel, pispiza, prairie marmot, prairie squirrel and petit chien. read more

Diet. Black-tailed prairie dogs mainly consume grasses, sedges, forbs (flowering plants), roots and seeds, though they are also known to eat insects. Population. Black-tailed prairie dogs once numbered in the hundreds of millions – maybe even over a billion – and were possibly the most abundant mammal in North America. read more

Perhaps the most striking of prairie dog communications is the territorial call or"jump-yip" display of the black-tailed prairie dog. A black-tailed prairie dog will stretch the length of its body vertically and throw its forefeet into the air while making a call. read more

Diet: What Does a Black-tailed Prairie Dog Eats. The black-tailed prairie dogs are primarily herbivorous, and their first preference is grass, followed by the tender shoots, seeds, sedges, flowers, and leaves of forbs and other weeds. read more