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Prairie Dogs
A type of ground squirrel, a prairie dog is a burrowing rodent native to North American grasslands. There are five different prairie dog species: white-tailed, black-tailed, Utah, Gunnison’s and Mexican prairie dogs. They have stout bodies, short tail and brown fur.
319 Questions
How does the Prairie Dog impact the ecosystem?
Prairie dogs help clear out brush and eat a lot of grass and weeds. That could lead to unprecedented growth of brush that could harm the livestock industry.
Also, the lack of prey could force predators to turn to livestock for food.
How prairie dogs are endangered?
Prairie dogs are rodents and live in aggregations called towns or colonies in burrows which can be as much as 15 feet deep and 60 feet long and sometimes connect with other burrows. Prairie dogs use prairie and grassland habitat ranging from the mid-west to the western United States. They are considered a key indicator species for the health of prairie and grassland habitat. In the early 1900's humans eradicated prairie dogs and destroyed prairie dog habitat. Some people view prairie dogs as a pest and continue to poison and eradicate them. Ranchers see the prairie dog as a competitor for the grass that cattle eat, so they have poisoned prairie dogs with harmful chemicals that sometimes killed other animals. Also, many prairie dog towns have been plowed over for crop fields or destroyed for human development. Diseases, like, have also reduced prairie dog populations. Scientists estimated we have lost as much as 98% of the prairie dog habitat that once existed.
Other contributors:
The prairie dogs are endangered due to the plowing of their homes, totally covering them. Due to this the prairie dogs cannot get food and water. They are not endangered at a high level yet their population is dwindling. Some pet stores also sell them as pets.
How do prairie dogs mechanically weather rock?
They burrow which is mechanically weathering, because when they burrow they loosen it into sediments physically.
How does the whistle of a prairie dog protect the group?
It warns the other prairie dogs and then they all hide deep in their system of tunnel houses.
How many prairie dogs does a black footed ferret eat in one year?
A black footed ferret eats approximately 100 prairie dogs a year
What is a prairie dogs favorite food?
OH MY, they scavenge. And if they are "of tamer variety" (a Prairie Dog Town, etc) they will eat anything you hand out. My kids did oranges, apples, crackers, bread. Other than that, grasses, roots and seeds.
What is being done to save the Mexican prairie dog?
The biggest threat to the Mexican prairie dog is loss of habitat due to land development projects. Portions of land are being set aside for protected Mexican prairie dog towns so they can live in a protected area.
How long do desert prarie dogs live?
The average lifespan of a prairie dog is 3-5 years but they have been known to live up to 8 years, especially if they are cared for properly in captivity.
Why are prairie dogs in New Mexico such poor dancers?
Because they tried to shoot a parie dog in the air thats why there so poor
What is the nickname for the black tailed prairie dog what did Lewis and clark to with one?
pound cake
Why are insects needed in prairies?
Insects are needed in prairies because...
a. the insects pollinate many prairie plants
b.they consume living and dead plant material
and
c.they provide a lot of food to other prairie animals.
How long do Prairie Dogs live in captivity?
I have had 2 Prairie Dogs in my life. The first one lived to be 13 years old, and my second one lived to be 11 years old. The average Prairie dog that lives in captivity lives between 8-10 years old.
- Leahla1979
Song in the Telus commercial with the prairie dogs or ferrets?
The theme comes from the soundtrack to the 2000 movie Requiem for a Dream, composed by Clint Mansell. The main theme is entitled "Lux Aeterna".
The theme's popularity led it to be re-orchestrated for the 12 minutes trailers for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. In honor of the theme's origins, it was entitled "Requiem for a Tower" - this is probably the version that you know best with full orchestra and choir.
What factor would decrease an area's carrying capacity for prairie dogs?
✨Increased ✨availability ✨of ✨food ✨
Prairie voles eat roots and other parts of clovers, dandelions, alfalfa, penstemon, ambrosia, and goldenrod. They also eat bluegrass and other prairie grasses, and mosses.
How do you know that black footed ferret main diet is prairie dogs?
Scientists can examine animal feces and know what their diet is. The black footed ferret has been studied very intensely and the conclusion was that their main diet is prairie dogs.
Are gophers and prairie dogs the same?
Technically, no. The loose, colloquial use of the term "gopher" might include any ground squirrel, and prairie dogs are indeed ground-living members of the family Sciuridae, but they are usually not considered gophers.
True gophers are of the family Geomyidae, and not in the squirrel family at all. They are, of course, in the same order, Rodentia.
Other ground squirrels often called gophers are of the genus Spermophilius, including the striped gopher or thirteen-lined ground squirrel (S. tridecemlineatus), the flickertail or Richardson's ground squirrel (S. richardsonii), and others.
Prairie dogs are of the tribe Marmotini, genus Cynomys, and there are about five species.
So, to diagram the relationship:
- Order Rodentia
- - Superfamily Geomyoidae
- -- Family Geomyidae (true gophers)
- - Family Sciuridae
- -- Tribe Marmotini
- --- Genus Spermophilius (ground squirrels, many of which are called "gophers")
- --- Genus Cynomys (prairie dogs)
(I hope that's clear!)
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynomys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomyidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spermophilus
The term gopher as it is commonly used does not relate to any one species, but is a generic term used to describe any of several small burrowing rodents endemic to North America, including the pocket gopher (family Geomyidae), also called true gophers, and the ground squirrel (family Sciuridae), including Richardson's ground squirrel and species of prairie dog.
What are Groups of prairie dog called?
Prarie dogs live in groups called towns or collonies. They also have a very difined social order.
