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America’s vast prairie grasslands once were an endless sea that stretched across one-third of the country. Lewis and Clark, amazed by its abundance, called it a Garden of Eden. Scientists agree, comparing our historic prairie with today’s African Serengeti. Of the many animals that flourished there — elk, pronghorn (often called antelope), bison — black-tailed prairie dogs so charmed Lewis and Clark that they shipped one to President Jefferson.
Clark wrote in amazement of how deep their underground burrows and how large their colonies were. These colonies, called prairie dog towns, could span 100 miles. Once, a 25,000-square-mile town with 400 million prairie dogs was reported in Texas. Such large towns now are a thing of the past.
As the great grasslands of America were plowed, prairie dogs lost vital habitat and began to vanish. People, worried that they competed with livestock, also shot and poisoned them. About 32 million acres of prairie dog habitat were poisoned in the 1920s. Today, few prairie dogs remain, and their towns occupy a mere 1 percent of their historic areas.
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In Their Own Words... |
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“The village of those animals covered about 4 acres of ground on a gradual descent of a hill and contains great numbers of holes on the top of which those little animals sit erect, and make a whistling noise, and, when alarmed, step into their hole."
~ Clark | | The dwindling numbers of this keystone population means trouble for species that depend on it, including the federally-endangered black-footed ferret — one of North America’s most-endangered mammals. More than 200 wildlife species live on or near prairie dog towns. Some of these animals depend on them for food, while others use their underground tunnels as places to live. To learn more about this unique animal, visit prairiedogs.org. | 
