Prairie dog Prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus Cynomys) are herbivorous burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. The five species are: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah, and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, 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 United States, they range primarily to the west of the Mississippi River, though they have also been introduced in
Gunnison's prairie dog single male/single female, single male/multiple females, or multiple males/multiple females. Arrangement of the communities or social groups may be linked with the distribution of food resources. The territories inhabited by the Gunnison's prairie dog are defended by social groups, and violent behavior is common toward other animals who are not members. These prairie dogs often feed in feebly defended peripheral sections of territories that belong to other groups, but when members from different groups meet in these common feeding areas, conflicts can arise, with one prairie dog chasing the other back to its territory. All prairie dogs, including the Gunnison's