Prairie dog

? Prairie dogs
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Sciurognathi Family: Sciuridae Genus: Cynomys Rafinesque, 1817
Species
Cynomys gunnisoni Cynomys leucurus Cynomys ludovicianus Cynomys mexicanus Cynomys parvidens

Prairie dogs are small stout-bodied burrowing rodents with shallow cheek pouches native to the grasslands of North America.

They used to inhabit larger areas of the Great Plains, forming towns of several millions individuals. Prairie dogs are an important part of the prairie ecosystem, black footed ferrets and burrowing owls depending on them. A misinterpreted belief that prairie dogs destroy crops or especially prairie grass has led in the past to extensive killings, which has dramatically reduced their numbers today and led them to near extinction. While some States started a relocation and protection scheme, in some parts of the US the killings, often seen just a Sunday sport, still continue. Utah and Gunnison prairie dogs are close to extinction, the largest community left is made up of black tailed prairie dogs.

Prairie dogs are highly social animals which live in large towns formed by single families of one male and 2 to 4 females. They have up to 4 pups, one time a year, which are born blind and without fur and need about 30 days of close nurturing by their mother.

Lately some of the animals have found their way to our homes as pets, both in the US and in Europe. Internet groups exist to discuss the animal.

In 2003 they came to public attention in the U.S. because pet prairie dogs spread monkeypox, a mild variant of smallpox previously unknown in North America, to more than a dozen people. The prairie dogs apparently contracted the disease from a Gambian pouched rat in a Chicago-area pet store. No other disease hase ever been linked to them, but export blockade of the US and import stop from the European Union has slowed down indiscriminate capture, most of which died before reaching their destination.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Prairie dog sitting back (Ayé Coucou)

An average size is 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) long. In the United States prairie dogs are primarily found west of the Mississippi River, but they have been introduced into a few eastern locales. All are herbivores, and in settled regions they are believed sometimes to damage crops severely. They have been eliminated from certain areas of the Great Plains where ranchers regard them as pests. The mass killing of the prairie dog lead to the near extinction of the black-footed ferret, which eats the prairie dog and the burrowing owl, who needs their burrows for nesting.

• ORDER RODENTIA
• Suborder Sciurognathi
  • FAMILY SCIURIDAE (Squirrels, chipmunks, marmots and prairie dogs)
    • Subfamily Sciurinae
      • Genus Cynomys
        • Gunnison's Prairie Dog, Cynomys gunnisoni
        • White-tailed Prairie Dog, Cynomys leucurus
        • Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Cynomys ludovicianus
        • Mexican Prairie Dog, Cynomys mexicanus
        • Utah Prairie Dog, Cynomys parvidens
      • About 35 other genera in subfamily

The White-tailed Prairie Dog was described by Ludvig/Louis, and was named after the 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition where prairie dogs were first identified for scientific study.

Prairie dogs as food

See Taboo food and drink.