By Aliza Ibrahim

Prairie Dogs are burrowing rodents. Adults stand about 12 inches tall and weigh about one to three pounds.They sleep in their burrows at night. Prairie dogs are actually related to squirrels. Prairie dogs live in large colonies that are also called towns or villages. Undisturbed colonies have thousands of residents and extend for miles in all directions. Within colonies, prairie dogs live in family groups called coteries. Each coterie defends a home territory of about one acre (.40 hectare) from surrounding coteries. The typical coterie territory contains about 70 burrow entrances.

Prairie dogs are found in the grasslands of North America. They are found in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In Mexico, prairie dogs are found primarily in the northern states, which lie at the southern end of the Great Plains: northeastern Sonora, north and northeastern Chihuahua, northern Coahuila, northern Nuevo León, and northern Tamaulipas. In the US, they range primarily to the west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in a few eastern locales.

When kept as a pet, Prairie dogs should be fed a high fiber pellet diet along with Timothy hay grass or Timothy Hay cubes. Exotic Nutrition has formulated a diet high in fiber, made from all natural, locally grown grain products. Exotic Nutrition's Prairie dog diet & Prairie dog 'PUP' diet emulates the natural nutritional needs of Prairie dogs. They eat mainly green leafy plants, insects and prairie plants. Prairie dogs are not dog species but are instead a type of rodents. They usually come out from their burrows to get food in the wild.

Prairie dogs are colonial animals that live in complex networks of tunnels with multiple openings. Colonies are easily identified by the raised-burrow entrances that give the diminutive prairie dogs some extra height when acting as sentries and watching for signs of danger. The tunnels contain separate "rooms" for sleeping, rearing young, storing food and eliminating waste. Prairie dogs are very social and live in closely-knit family groups called "coteries." Coteries usually contain an adult male, one or more adult females and their young offspring. These coteries are grouped together into wards (or neighborhoods) and several wards make up a colony or town. Prairie dogs have a complex system of communication that includes a variety of pitched warning barks that signal different types of predators. Prairie dogs earned their name from settlers traveling across the plains who thought that these warning calls sounded similar to dogs barking.

Breeding takes place in March and early April, and a litter of usually four to six young is born 30 to 35 days later. Young prairie dogs are born hairless, helpless, and with their eyes closed. BREEDS OF PRAIRIE DOGS:- Black-tailed Prairie Dog Gunnison's Prairie Dog Mexican Prairie Dog Utah Prairie Dog White-tailed Prairie Dog

Typically, prairie dogs survive three to four years in the wild, although they have been known to reach eight years in captivity. Prairie dogs weigh 2 to 3 pounds and measure 12 to 15 inches in length with a 3- to 4-inch tail. While grass is their favorite food, they also consume roots, seeds, and leafy plants seasonally. They live in underground communities called towns. Prairie dog towns have social structures that include wards, and smaller social groups called coteries. Each coterie usually consists of one male, three or four females, and several young. Prairie dogs are very social animals. They participate in such activities as kissing, nuzzling, and grooming, and they communicate through vocalizations that warn others of the presence of predators. A prairie dog cost from $ The price depends on the store or the breeder that you'll buy from.