Photograph by Bates Littlehales Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents that live in the grasslands of western North America. They feed on grasses, other plants, and occasionally insects from dawn until dusk and sleep in their burrows at night. 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. The typical coterie territory contains about 70 burrow entrances. As many as 26 prairie dogs sometimes live in one coterie, but most coteries contain a single breeding male, three or four breeding females, and several nonbreeding yearlings and juveniles. Coterie members share burrows within the home territory, with one exception. For about six weeks after birth, mothers do not allow entry into the nursery burrow.