Prairie Dog

The most common and widespread of the five species of prairie dog is the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), occuring in dry, upland prairies from southern Saskatchewan to northern Mexico. The pelage of the black-tailed prairie dog is yellowish brown, except for the dark last third of their tail. The closely related Mexican prairie dog (C. mexicanus) occurs in a small area of northern Mexico, and has about one-half of its tail colored black.

The white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) occurs in prairies and grasslands of high-elevation, upland plateaus in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. This species is rather similar in coloration to the black-tailed prairie dog, but it utilizes different habitats, and it has a white tip to its tail. The closely related Gunnison's prairie dog (C. gunnisoni) of Colorado and New Mexico, and the Utah prairie dog (C. parvidens) of Utah have relatively restricted distributions, and they may in fact be subspecies of the white-tailed prairie dog.