Prairie Dog

 The prairie dog is a large ground squirrel that is found on the plains of North America. Most prairie dogs are found west of the Mississippi River from Canada through the US and into Mexico. Through out this range there are five different species. Prairie dogs are social creatures. They live in large colonies that are usually referred to as prairie dog towns. These towns are usually composed of 15 to 30 families. Each family usually has a breeding male, 2 or 3 breeding females and numerous young. They live in burrows which provide them with protection from the elements and predators. You can often see several prairie dogs sitting up at borrow entrances around the town. These prairie dogs are on guard duty. If a predator is in the area the guards will let out a specific call to warn all of the others of the danger. The burrows have multiple exits allowing the prairie dogs to dodge into the burrow and then exit at a different point to escape danger.