A Prairie Dog's Life

A Prairie Dog's Life

The Big Day Spring has come to the prairie. Today, Charlie will go outside for the first time. Charlie has lived his first few months below ground. Charlie is a black-tailed prairie dog. But is he really a dog? No! Prairie dogs are actually squirrels, part of the rodent family.

Pioneers named the prairie dog because they thought the animal's call sounded like a dog's bark. Charlie loves his warm, cozy burrow, but he wants to go outside. Lucky Charlie! Today his mother will take him and his three sisters above ground. They will learn about the big world outside.

Welcome to the Prairie The “ prairie" part of Charlie's name comes from his habitat. All of the world's grasslands, or prairies, have burrowing mammals that create underground homes. In the United States, that animal is the prairie dog. When he is grown, Charlie will weigh 1. 5 to 3 pounds (0. 68-1. 36 kg). Standing on his rear feet, he will be about 1 foot tall (30. 48 cm). That is about the size of a large squirrel or a guinea pig.

There are five types of prairie dog. They are the Gunnison's, black- tailed, white-tailed, Mexican, and Utah prairie dogs. The black-tailed are the most common, living on lowland prairies.

Home Below Ground Charlie's underground home is called a coterie(KOH-tur-ee). Each family has its own small coterie, a hole that is made up of small “ rooms. " Many coteries together make a prairie dog colony. One colony can spread for hundreds of miles and house thousands of dogs!