With 942 records, the black-tailed prairie dog is one of the most heavily reported mammals in North Dakota’s atlas, and 802 of those points sit inside Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Billings County alone holds 808 records, so the map is really a portrait of one great colony complex in the badlands, with smaller towns scattered across McKenzie, Benson, and the southwest counties.
Life in a town
Prairie dogs live in dense colonies on short, closely cropped grassland, where a network of burrow entrances and cratered mounds can cover many acres. The animals clip vegetation around their burrows to keep sight lines open, post sentinels, and trade sharp alarm barks that identify what kind of predator is approaching. The towns they maintain do work for the rest of the prairie too, since their burrows shelter burrowing owls and snakes, and the colonies themselves feed badgers, hawks, and coyotes. Little Missouri National Grassland holds additional towns beyond the park boundary.
A calendar spent above and below ground
Black-tailed prairie dogs do not truly hibernate, but in the depths of a North Dakota winter they stay below in their burrow systems for days at a time and surface only on mild stretches. Reports run thin from November through March, then climb steeply from May on, peaking from June through September when pups are above ground and whole towns are active from dawn to dusk.
Status in North Dakota
NatureServe lists the black-tailed prairie dog as SU, Unrankable, in North Dakota. The species is native to the state, and USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
