Only one mammal in South Dakota’s atlas carries more records than the black-tailed prairie dog’s 2,602. Colonies concentrate in the western grasslands, Pennington and Custer counties hold the great majority, and Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Custer State Park each log hundreds of records from their accessible towns.
A town with a workforce
Prairie dogs live in social family groups called coteries, packed into towns whose burrow systems can run for miles. Residents clip the vegetation around their burrows to keep sightlines open for predators, and their sharp alarm calls, which distinguish one kind of threat from another, carry across the colony. Buffalo Gap National Grassland and the mixed-grass flats inside the two national parks hold the state’s signature towns.
The grassland’s foundation species
Few animals shape their landscape the way prairie dogs do. Their grazing keeps fresh grass growth coming, their digging turns and aerates the soil, and their burrows shelter burrowing owls, snakes, and rabbits, while badgers, hawks, and coyotes hunt the town itself. The endangered black-footed ferret depends on prairie dogs almost entirely for prey, one reason healthy colonies matter well beyond the colony’s edge.
A seasonal pulse above ground
Black-tailed prairie dogs do not truly hibernate, though they stay below ground through bitter weather. Reports climb from spring as pups emerge, peaking in June and July when towns are at their busiest.
Status in South Dakota
NatureServe ranks the black-tailed prairie dog S4, Apparently Secure, in South Dakota, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
