Times are tough for the prairie dog.
Billions of these burrowing rodents once lived in prairie dog towns across the West, but today they have vanished from 99 percent of their original habitat. One of the biggest threats to prairie dog habitat is development. Open grassland, the perfect prairie dog habitat is increasingly being claimed for new subdivisions. It's still common for prairie dogs to be shot, poisoned or simply run over by cars when they're in the way. Research finds the survival of prairie dogs means other wild animals will stick around, including endangered burrowing owls, which use abandoned burrows for their homes.