where do prairie dogs live

Prairie dogs live in grassland areas across the central and western parts of North America, where the land is open and the soil is good for digging burrows.

Quick Scoop: Where prairie dogs live

• Prairie dogs are native to the great plains, plateaus, and valleys of western and central North America.

• They prefer open, short-grass prairie or other flat grasslands, not forests or thick brush, so they can see predators clearly.

• Their underground “towns” are large colonies of tunnels and chambers that can stretch over hundreds of acres and house thousands or even millions of animals.

Regions and countries

• Prairie dogs are found from southern Canada, through the central United States, and down into northern and central Mexico.

• The black‑tailed prairie dog, the most widespread species, ranges from Saskatchewan in Canada south through the U.S. plains into northern Mexico.

• Other species have smaller ranges: for example, Gunnison’s prairie dogs live in parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah; Mexican prairie dogs live in northeastern Mexico.

Typical habitat

• Prairie dogs choose dry, relatively flat areas with fine to medium soils that are easy to dig but stable enough to hold tunnels.

• These habitats are usually dominated by grasses and low plants that provide food and don’t block their view.

• Historically, some single prairie dog “towns” covered tens of thousands of square miles and held hundreds of millions of animals, especially in places like Texas.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.