Black-tailed Prairie Dog: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Small Mammals · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. One black-tailed prairie dog town in Texas was reported to cover 64,000 km² and to hold 400 million prairie dogs.
2. Black-tailed prairie dogs do not truly hibernate. They can be seen above ground even in mid-winter.
3. In winter they still come out to feed by day, but at night they slip into a short, automatic torpor that slows heart and breathing.
4. Through fall and winter, black-tailed prairie dogs lose about a fifth of their body weight on average.
5. In central Oklahoma, prairie dog tunnels usually go down about 1.3 to 1.5 m.

The quiz

1. How many individuals did one Texas prairie-dog town hold?

• About 400 million (correct)
• About 4,000
• About 400,000
• About 4 billion

One town held roughly 400 million individuals.

2. Do black-tailed prairie dogs truly hibernate?

• Yes, for six months underground
• No, they can be seen above ground in mid-winter (correct)
• Yes, but only the males
• Yes, in huge piles of snow

They do not truly hibernate and can be seen above ground in mid-winter.

3. When do prairie dogs enter their short torpor?

• At night (correct)
• At midday
• During storms
• Only in summer

In winter they feed by day, but at night they slip into a short torpor.

4. How much body weight do they lose on average in fall and winter?

• About two percent
• About five percent
• About sixty percent
• About twenty percent (correct)

On average they lose about twenty percent, a fifth, of their body weight.

5. How deep do tunnels in central Oklahoma usually go?

• 13 to 15 cm
• 38 to 51 cm
• 1.3 to 1.5 m (correct)
• 3.8 to 4.1 m

Tunnels there usually go down about 1.3 to 1.5 m.

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