prairie dog towns

Rodent underground cities

Prairie dog towns are the interconnected burrow systems where prairie dogs live in colonies, sometimes spanning hundreds of acres across grassland terrain.

The "town" consists of elaborate underground tunnels with multiple entrances, organized into smaller family units called coteries.

These colonies were once vast—some historic towns covered thousands of square miles—though most have been dramatically reduced by habitat loss and extermination campaigns.

Related

pop up · tunnel · biodiversity · keystone species · chamber · habitat fragmentation · colony · protected areas · grassland · short grass · coterie · mound · digging · food web · alarm calls · ecosystem · social hierarchy · foraging

Opposites
social structure

prairie dog townshermit crab shells

Appropriated mollusk casings

hermit crab shell

habitat complexity

prairie dog townstemporary shelter

Impermanent place of refuge

bolt hole · day bed

habitat openness

prairie dog townscave systems

Interconnected underground voids

Family

prairie, dog, town, prairies, dogs, towns, doggy, dogged, doggedly

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Mostly American · Timeless · Concrete · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G