Utah prairie dog Utah prairie dog The Utah prairie dog ("Cynomys parvidens") is the smallest species of prairie dog, a member of the squirrel family of rodents native to the south central steppes of the US state of Utah. The fur is multicolor, which consists of black, brown, and dark brown at the tip. Face have dark brown cheeks and whitish tone of chins and mouth. The total body length of typical adult ranges from 30.5 cm to 36.0 cm with 3 cm to 6 cm of tail. Adult prairie dogs weigh about 0.77 kg to 1.41 kg in males, and 0.64 kg
Black-tailed prairie dog vertically and throw its forefeet into the air while making a call. A jump-yip from one prairie dog causes others nearby to do the same. The instigator of the jump-yip 'wave' uses the jump-yip to assess the vigilance or watchfulness of others in the colony - a longer jump-yip wave indicates watchful neighbors and leads to increased foraging by the instigator. Age of first reproduction, pregnancy rate, litter size, juvenile growth rate, and first-year survival of the black-tailed prairie dog vary depending on food availability. Minimum breeding age for the black-tailed prairie dog is usually two years, but yearlings may