Prairie dogs, however, may be the Southwest's master burrowers. Prairie dogs even ventilate their underground houses by building one entrance higher than the others to pull fresh air through the burrow like a chimney. Prairie dogs spend their days above ground near their burrow entrances, eating grass, grooming one another, and watching for predators like badgers, hawks, eagles, coyotes, or bobcats. Prairie dogs are colonial critters, living in extensive colonies of hundreds to millions of individual animals. Each prairie dog colony is divided into half-acre neighborhoods called coteries, inhabited by one male, several females, and the young of the year.
Prairie dogs talk with sounds and body language.
In fact, they have developed such a specific vocabulary that their alarm calls are precise. Like human cities, prairie dog colonies are home to multitudes of other creatures. Fleas, mites, lice, and other tiny grazers move into prairie dog burrows to feed on the occupants' droppings, skin flakes, and discarded food. The temperate conditions of prairie dog tunnels also attract many kinds of larger animals. Some, like burrowing owls, take up residence after the original builders move out.