White-tailed prairie dog records concentrate at Dinosaur National Monument, Arches National Park, and Ouray National Wildlife Refuge, sagebrush basins and canyon-rim grassland typical of the loose, spread-out colonies this species forms, unlike the dense towns black-tailed prairie dogs build. Utah holds a real share of this species’ total range too. Nationally the animal occurs in only four states, and Utah’s 189 records make up close to a quarter of all documented sightings.
Reports climb sharply from March through July, peaking in May, then fall off hard by November, tracking the species’ aboveground active season between winter hibernation bouts rather than any change in numbers. NatureServe rates it S4, Apparently Secure, in Utah, the healthiest state ranking of any prairie dog species covered here.
Full species profile
