Prairie Dogs of the Wichita Wildlife Refuge By: Elissa Hefley

Black –tailed prairie dogs One of five species of prairie dogs and the only one that occurs in Oklahoma They stand 12 inches tall and weigh 1.5 lbs and are brown in color with distinct black tips on their tails. They live in large groups called colonies. They keep the vegetation within the colony clipped close to the ground (12 inches or less). This allows them to detect predators.

Prairie Dogs Within a colony, prairie dogs are divided into family units known as coteries. --Coteries contain a dominant breeding male, a few breeding females, and several juvenile or non-breeding prairie dogs. --Each coterie has an established territory surrounding several burrows, which they will defend from other prairie dogs. Territoriality is a very strong trait in their behavior. When juveniles mature they are force to leave their coterie and either establish a new coterie or leave the colony altogether.

Burrows of prairie dogs Colonies have many underground burrows with one or more entrances, ranging from 4 to 100 burrows per acre. Burrows serve many purposes. Escape Cover from the weather Cover from predators Sleeping and resting areas Nurseries Within the burrows, the nest chambers are usually 12 x20 inch cavities filled with dry grass for rearing young and sleeping.

Burrow entrances are encircled by mounds of dirt. These are known as dome craters. These dome craters are used for the following: Prevent flooding Create drafts for better ventilation And help provide an elevated point so the prairie dogs can watch out for predators.

Rare species Black-tailed prairie dogs are considered a rare species of special concern in Oklahoma. They are declared extinct in Arizona. There are over 60,000 acres of grasslands occupied by prairie dogs.

Standoff between a burrowing owl and a prairie dog. Sometimes a burrowing owl will take over a hole in the colony, most of the time they are already abandoned by the prairie dogs. The prairie dogs have plenty of holes to go around so it doesn’t hurt them. Sometimes it is neat to watch them standoff though. Prairie dog Burrowing owl

A Keystone Species The black-tailed prairie dog is essential to the short grass prairie ecosystem. Badgers, coyotes, weasels, golden eagles, hawks, swift foxes, and snakes all rely on prairie dogs for food. So dependent is the black-footed ferret that this endangered species cannot survive unless prairie dog populations are maintained. And prairie dog towns attract many non-predators. Meadowlarks, grasshopper sparrows, and other birds gravitate to them because seeds and insects are more available. When burrows are abandoned, they become home to the likes of burrowing owls, white-tailed rabbits and other animals. In addition, bison and pronghorn antelope (as well as domestic cattle) prefer to graze on or near prairie dog towns, most likely because prairie dog foraging increases the quality of grassland plants.

Prairie dogs are very social among themselves. They get along well with cattle and bison and other prairie dogs, but can be aggressive when defending their territory. With that said we even had a few come very close to the participants in our group.

6 th Grade English Now that you know information about the black- tailed prairie dogs, your assignments are on the following slides. Take out a clean sheet of paper Use proper heading Copy the sentences on the following slides, leaving room to rewrite the sentence with the proper corrections. This assignment is due at the end of the hour and turn into the proper basket.

Proofread each sentence and correct all mistakes. 1.black-tailed prarie dogs are 12 inches tail. 2.Prairie dogs live n large group called coloknees. 3.Territorality is a very strong trate in there behavior. 4.Burrows provide ecsape, cover from whether, and cover from predaters. 5.Black-taled prairie dogs are a rare speces 6.Prairie dogs is social reptiles 7.The bufferlo love the p-dogs. 8.The community loves are local prairie dgos towns. 9.prairie dogs is social. 10. burrowing owls loves too take over abandend howls. Bonus: Explain in your own words what keystone species means.

Use the following prompt for your journal entry: “Life in a prairie dog colony” Explain in your own words what you think life would be like in a prairie dog colony.