Hear the prairie dogs bark at the Zoo

 

They're back and they're barking! Six prairie dogs are now calling the El Paso Zoo home.

We invite you to visit their zoo home - wait a bit and you will probably hear them bark for yourself! Or let your kids pop their heads up in the viewing tubes that are built in the center of the exhibit - for a prairie dog's point of view!

Actually, the prairie dog is not really a dog - but it makes a sound just like one as it barks a warning when it senses danger. The cute little rodents are the most social members of the Squirrel Family and are closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks and marmots. There are 5 species of prairie dogs (genus Cynomys). Ours are the black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) which occupies narrow bands of dry plains stretching from central Texans to Canada.

5 species of prairie dogs (genus Cynomys):

Black-tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus) occupies narrow bands of dry plains stretching from central Texans to Canada.

White-tailed prairie dog (C. leucurus) inhabits Western US: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.

Gunnison's prairie dog (C. gunnisoni) has a much shorter tail than other prairie dogs, and it is uniquely colored and centers around the Four Corners from 5000-11000 feet.

Mexican prairie dog (C. mexicanus) is an endangered species with a limited distribution only within parts of Mexico.

Utah prairie dog (C. parvidens) is the smallest of all prairie dogs and threatened. The black-tailed (C. ludovicianus) with a black-tipped tail is much more widespread, occurring sparsely over the Great Plains and throughout the Great Basin. Black-tailed are the prairie dogs normally sold in pet shops and may either be a baby caught in the wild or from a breeder. The other main species, the white-tailed prairie pog (C. leucurus), has a white-tipped tail and inhabits higher altitudes than the black-tailed. It hibernates in winter and is less colonial in habit.

Prairie dogs live in the ground in burrows (or tunnels), and come out in the daytime to eat. They live mainly on grass, but will eat other plants and insects. They grow from 12 to 20 inches long, including the tail, and weigh from one to two pounds.

Look Out, Mr. prairie dog! Prairie dogs are prey for many animals, such as coyotes, eagles, and hawks, so at least half of them don't live to be a year old. Without their natural predators - they can live up to 5 years. They stay near their holes and are always on the alert for enemies. When one spots danger, it makes a loud "bark," and all the animals then scramble down into their burrows. Recent studies suggest that prairie dogs possess the most sophisticated of all natural animal languages. They apparently issue different sounds identifying various predators, which include hawks, owls, eagles, ravens, coyotes, badgers, ferrets and snakes. Prairie dogs can run up to 35 miles per hour for short distances. The Prairie dog has only one defense that works -- raising the alarm and disappearing quickly.

Where do they live? Throughout most of the western United States from Canada to Mexico -- Montana, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming -- including higher elevations of the Mojave, Great Basin and Chihuahuan deserts. Prairie dogs live in large colonies, which are often called prairie dog "towns" or "villages." A colony often contains hundreds of animals. Our new colony has 6 members; 5 females and 1 male. The previous colony gradually died out due to old age and we brought this new group all at once to make sure that everybody got along.

Best time to visit? Your best chances to see the prairie dogs are in the warmest part of the day. Try to visit mid afternoon.